Basseterre: St. Kitts, May 04, 2021: The St Kitts and Nevis Robotics Association (SKNRA), held its first Marine Drone Challenge on Saturday May 01, 2021 at the Byron’s Residence in Lime Kiln. Competitors representing the Charles E. Mills Secondary School (CEMSS), Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC), Basseterre High School (BHS) and the Washington Archibald High School (WAHS), assembled at the competition site ready to prove drone dominance.
The teams were expected to complete a series of tasks using their drones. In the first task- (The Active Mine Task)- students were expected to showcase the ability of their drones to disarm the mine and remove the arming device to the platform. Successful completion of this task was awarded 10 points. In both the second and fourth tasks– (The Sunken Waste Challenge)- for a maximum of 30 points, the drones were expected to collect assigned waste items and deposit them through a vault hoop. Task three- (The Garbage Patch Challenge) -the drones were expected to move items to the deck of the pool for a total of 80 points.
Shamar Pemberton, Leader of the St Kitts and Marine Drone Challenge of the SKNRA expressed gratitude to participants, sponsors and the SKNRA noting that the event was unprecedented locally.
“This event for me was something ground breaking. It required me to step outside of the box, think outside of the box, go beyond what was normal to me. It’s the first step into making St Kitts and Nevis a bigger mark on the map,” he said.
He reminded participants of life’s possibilities. “There is nothing anywhere that is too great to conquer, there is nothing too big to climb, there is no cloud that is too far to reach all you have to do is start.”
Chairperson of the St Kitts and Nevis Robotics Association Dr Ricardo Neil, also thanked participating schools and the organising committee. He expressed how proud he was of the event.
“I am extremely proud. Extremely proud that we can now put on a program, that we can invite four schools to compete in the challenge here in St Kitts and Nevis. We are one of the only Caribbean countries right now which is having a drone challenge within the region”’ noted Dr Neil.
The SKNRA is a non-government, non-profit organisation which believes in the ideology that “well rounded, innovative individuals can be crafted out of
all youths, regardless of their residency and economic background.”
