Domo arigato Mr. Roboto.

A group of students at Glebe Collegiate Institute will be working feverishly through the weekend to complete construction of a robot destined for an international competition.

The Glebe Gryphons, a team comprised of students ranging from Grade 9 on up, will have to beat a Tuesday deadline to ship the robot to Mississauga, where it will compete in an obstacle course contest March 22. If it passes the test, the team will compete at the World Robotics Championship in Atlanta this April.

Glebe computer engineering teacher Richard Seniuk admits it's a tall order.

"We were given six months to design the prototype, build, test, then ship our robot," said Seniuk, adding the robot is about 60% complete with just days to go.

HI-TECH BOOST

The team operates with a budget of $12,000. Half of the money is provided by the Ontario Centres of Excellence, which covers the registration fee and the raw building materials.

OCE also put the team in touch with local mentors and graduate students to aid in all facets of the project, from engineering to mechanics, electronics to computer programming.

"We're concerned about declining enrolment in computer sciences and electrical engineering at the high school level," said OCE manager Roxy Hamilton. She said the sharp drop in interest was related to the "hi-tech meltdown" in Ottawa's industrial landscape.

"Although you hear that it's recovered, you don't feel it," said Hamilton.

Grade 12 student Parth Dave, the team's head programmer, said the project generates a great deal of enthusiasm from team members.

"Our program allows me to learn and apply a lot of things that I can't get in a classroom environment," said Dave.

As for the robot, it's got just about everything except a name.

"We've called it many names over the last six weeks," joked Seniuk. "Hopefully, by Monday we'll be calling it complete."