Wandile Ganya, Vuyelwa Dlungane and Loyiso Matyumza pose with Tiro Motaung (their coach) peering over fellow team members Azola Hobongwana and Bulumko Matshoba.
They are members of the i-Robo team - grade 10 students from Centre of Science and Technology (COSAT) school in Khayelitsha - who fought bravely in the 2007 FIRST Lego League championships at the MTN Sciencentre on Saturday October 27.
The team suffered several setbacks this year.
Wandile Ganya was feverishly revising the design of their robots on Saturday morning after being told that the attachments did not meet the specifications required, which were buried in pages of data.
Later the students discovered that obstacles from previous missions were not cleared between events, forcing their robots to maneouvre around blockages on the field of battle.
Coach Tiro Motaung said he was more upset at the results than his students were, who enjoyed the competition regardless.
Next year, he suggested, a preliminary try-out might be a good idea a week or so beforehand so students can get their competition nerves and fluffs out of the way.
With many students not having English as a mother tongue, Mr Motaung noted, it was difficult for them to understand the written instructions unless there was a strong graphic element.
* Thanks to Steve Sherman from Living Maths, who sent these photos off at an ungodly hour on Sunday evening, going above and beyond the call of duty.
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