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There's something secretive going on in the twilight hours at a local mill. Sparks flicker from welding torches, hammers bang and power tools hum as Rambot rises from his skeleton of metal pieces and comes to life.

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Corinne Fitzherbert photo

Hands-on education: Putting the principles of math and science to exciting, practical use is what the Robots EAST contest is all about. Deven Briggs, front, and Anthony Montgomery, behind, are two members of the Tobique Valley Robotics Club working to bring Rambot to life for the May 2-3 event. During the competition, the robot will attempt to capture treasure from his opponents and secure the flag to claim maximum points.

Corinne Fitzherbert photo

Rambot will rumble: It didn’t take members of the Tobique Valley Robotics Club long to come up with a name for their robot. They quickly chose Rambot and have been busy building their robot throughout March and April. Club members Heather Braun and Hayden Breau reveal part of Rambot’s skeleton.

Corinne Fitzherbert photo

The best a robot can be: Matthew Briggs is a member of the building team putting Rambot together. The students planned, designed and constructed their robot at the Briggs Engineered Wood Products site in Plaster Rock under the mentorship of Danny Briggs. Rambot will go up against 21 other robots built by Atlantic Canadian students in Grades 8-12 at Robots EAST, a contest sponsored by UNB and Dalhousie University.

Corinne Fitzherbert photo

Design team: Members of the Tobique Valley Robotics Club used computer software to help them design a robot for the Robots EAST competition at UNB in Fredericton on May 2 and 3. These boys are members of the design team and include, standing, left to right, Alexander Briggs and Connor Elliot and seated, left to right, Colin White and Robert Paget. The club has 13 members in Grades 8, 9 and 11.

Rambot the robot was designed and built by members of the Tobique Valley Robotics Club in preparation for a competition against other robots from throughout Atlantic Canada. It's serious stuff and in keeping with the importance of having the design remain a secret, Rambot won't get his public unveiling until the contest.

Like proud parents watching their child take a first step, the 13 members of the robotics club have spent countless hours getting ready to launch their creation on the world. The club will take Rambot to the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton on May 2 and 3 for the 12th annual Robots EAST (Exploration and Awareness of Science and Technology) competition where it will battle for supremacy.

Rambot is one of 21 robots being built by Grade 8-12 students in the region for the UNB and Dalhousie University sponsored event. Tobique Valley Middle High School teacher Katrina Paget noted she successfully pitched her request to form a robotics group to the Department of Education and received a $5,000 grant from the Innovative Learning Fund. It not only covered the $1,300 entrance fee to Robots EAST but also purchased a laptop, design software, scanner, camera and colour printer the group is using to create their project and capture its progress so they can make presentations in Fredericton and at home.

The members of the robotics club include two students in Grade 8, two in Grade 9 and nine from Grade 11. Paget noted in order to get the go-ahead on the grant, the club had to have in-kind contributions from a sponsor and she was delighted when Danny Briggs of Briggs Engineered Wood Products agreed to provide mentorship as well as a place to build Rambot.

"So we've been spending a lot of time here," Paget commented against a backdrop of humming tools and lively chatter from the group's members. "Since hockey ended, we've been here most evenings and weekends."

Each school in the competition received a basic kit comprising four drives and a radio control unit and can use them in any configuration to build a large robot up to 30 kilograms. The club members were split into a design team comprised mainly of the younger boys while the older ones formed the building team. The club's only female member is looking after the financial side of the project and has learned how to use a computer program to track expenses.

The theme of this year's Robots EAST competition is Pirates and treasure will be the machines' quarry. Team member Alexander Briggs explained that four robots will compete in two-minute heats where each will attempt to capture as many items as possible from each other's treasure chests. Each item in the chest is homemade (the Tobique Valley chest has a necklace made from balls, a "challis" made from a plastic urn and a gold bar made from wood among other things) and each has a point value.

"And there will be a flag and if you can capture that, you get the most points," Alexander Briggs explained.

Danny Briggs noted the robots have restrictions on their size, width and weight and it was up to the team members to use engineering software to come up with a design that met the criteria while having optimum speed and maneuverability. Once the robot has been put together, the team will spend time learning to operate it.