Robocup Junior Australia 2011 National Championships and more

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David Meego - Click for blog homepageLast weekend I was in Hobart Tasmania with my eldest son, Aaron, and his friend Hayden and his father Wayne. Also with us was another student, Vinura, his mother Dhammika and All Saints College teacher Donna.

We were all in town for the Robocup Junior Australia 2011 National Championships with "Team Jimmy" (Aaron and Hayden) competing in the Rescue Premier division and "The Boogie Man" (Vinura and Tai, who could not come due to study commitments) competing in the Secondary Dance division.

We flew over on Thursday via Melbourne (no direct flight from Perth) and hired a 8 seater Hyundai i-max van at the airport. A short drive into Hobart from the airport and we found our accomodation. We stayed at the newly renovated 2 on 2 apartments in Glebe which were absolutely fantastic. The owners, Matthew and Wilmar, have done an incredible job on the exterior and interior of the apartments. The exteriors are designed to look Victorian while the interior is ultra modern with many extremely clever features. Everywhere you look, you find little extra things that just show how much thought went into the design. The 2 on 2 apartments are next to Corinda's Cottages which have the same owners and are also available for hire.

The boys spent most of Friday and Saturday morning working on their robots. Then on Saturday afternoon, we drove to the University of Tasmania (UTAS) Sandy Bay campus and finalised the registration formalities (see news post).

After a quick look around, we returned to our accomodation and the work on "Jimmy" the robot continued. On Saturday night we attended a RoboCup function where we were able to meet with other competitors.

Sunday was the competition day for the secondary school students and both "Team Jimmy" and "The Boogie Man" went through their paces. Jimmy went through 5 rounds and ended up ranked 13 out of 32 (only the top 8 went through to a knockout finals competition).

The Boogie Man (using Michael Jackon's Blame it on the Boogie) performed twice and the once more in the finals to end up coming second overall (great work Vinura).

Check out the following links for pictures from the event and time lapse videos:

On Monday, we had some time before our flight home so we went to the Museum for Old and New Art (MONA), which is a free private museum with a huge range of old and new art that is designed to amaze and make you think.  Check out the Fat Porsche Car below.

After the museum we drove to the airport and caught our flight home via Melbourne. Other than a one hour delay in Melbourne due to a broken cargo door and an aircraft swap, we got home safely.

Now, while Aaron and I were in Hobart, on Sunday my younger son, Rohan, graded for his second degree junior black belt for Cobra Martial Arts Academy and passed. Here he is in his new red jacket with Sensei Craig Monie. Well done Rohan.

Overall, a very busy and successful weekend for all.

David

Also see: Robocup Junior WA 2011 Rescue Premier State Champions.

29-Sep-2011: Added links to photos and videos.