NUAST’s VEX Robotics team takes to the field!

First competition under their belt. (Whole School - 30/01/2017)

On Saturday 14th January, NUAST's VEX Robotics Team visited Wiston Academy in Leicester for their first regional challenge in this years ‘Starstruck’ competition. Around 16 teams from other schools and a variety of ages also took part.

The aim of the challenge was to use a robot, created entirely by the students, to pick up star shaped objects and throw them over a wall into the oppositions side in order to score points. There were a total of 20 matches on the day with four teams playing each three-minute match.

NUAST’s team is made up of 12 students in year 12 and year 13 and they have created a robot that they feel will go all the way in the competition. On the day they managed to get through to the semi-final and will now modify their robot ready for the next round.

Edward Corke of year 13 is part of the NUAST VEX team and is pleased with how the first competition went. “I think we did really well for our first one. We weren’t sure what to expect so were a bit unprepared but we have a really good team so could adapt and managed to get to the semi-finals.

“The job now is to adjust our robot to be the right size and specifications and if we do it right it could be good enough to take us to the final.

“It’s brilliant that NUAST offers this, it’s a mixture of engineering and IT, it helps broaden my skills and is loads of fun. I’d definitely encourage other people to take part, there’s no reason not to!”

Science Teacher and Team Manager, Dan Wood said: “The event was a great success and an opportunity for students to put their different disciplines of Engineering, Science and Computing to the test. The group had put in a huge amount of effort in the months leading up to competition and we are looking forward to the next stage.”

The team is hoping that they will make the National Championships at the Birmingham NEC later in the year.