The fifth VEX Robotics Competition UK National
Championships was hailed as 'the best yet', with 40 teams
from 27 schools battling it out over two days and 150 matches to be crowned UK
Champions. The competition took place at The Big Bang Fair at the NEC Birmingham.
The winning alliance was composed of three teams, including 'Virus Robotics', an independent team composed of former students of East
Barnet School in North London. Virus Robotics (pictured below) have been part of the winning tournament alliance for all five years of the VEX UK Nationals. The winning alliance was also comprised of '3116B', a team from The John Warner School in Hertfordshire, and 'Smooth Operators' from St Olaves Grammar School in Kent, which went one better than last year when they were beaten in the final.
Virus Robotics also scooped the Excellence Award for the second successive season, as well as picking up the Programming Skills, Robot Skills and the Judges Awards. It will be the last time Virus Robotics will compete at this level, due to the ages of the team members, but they will still have one last chance to compete in the VEX World
Championships in Kentucky next month, along with the two teams in their alliance, plus the following teams - 'Error 404' and '6053C Systematic Chaos' from Highgate School, 'Volt Robotics' from East Barnet School, Team R.O.U.S.E and Stowebots from Stanborough School - who qualified through regional heats.
The name of this year’s competition was ‘Nothing But Net’, with teams
challenged to design robots which can pick up and shoot balls into nets. These were the full list of awards presented at the UK National Final:
- Excellence Award - Virus Robotics, Independent
- Programming Skills - Virus Robotics, Independent
- Robot Skills - Virus Robotics, Independent
- Amaze Award - Team R.O.U.S.E, Independent
- Build Award - MBDA UK
- Create Award - King Henry VIII School, Coventry
- Design Award - The John Warner School, Hertfordshire
- Energy Award - Colyton Grammar School, Devon
- Innovate Award - The John Warner School, Hertfordshire
- Judges Award - Virus Robotics, Independent
- Think Award - The Stanborough School
- Volunteer of the Year - Alex Saikia
- Teacher of the Year - Aaron Williams & Julie Howell
- Partner of the Year - FANUC
As the UK distributor of the VEX robotics platform, Rapid again helped
to co-ordinate the competition at a Regional and National level. In
collaboration with VEX Robotics and its sponsorship partners National
Grid and Northrop Grumman, members of our Education team demonstrated the VEX system at the
Big Bang Fair. They showed pupils, teachers and employers how the system
can develop key skills in programming and engineering.
www.rapidonline.com/vex
