Villiers School Limerick take home Overall Champion Award at EA Robot Games

Over 500 secondary students descended on Dublin Castle from all corners of the country for the finals of the EA Robot Games, a unique competition that pits rival robots against one another in a mini sumo ring. All participants, 40% of whom are girls, gained a deep understanding of programming and engineering in making their way to the national finals.

The day began with 175 robots, before a series of knock-out heats left just two robots standing. In the end, ‘Coretex’ was victorious over ‘The Wall’ form St. Gerald’s College, Castlebar who were on course for three-in-a-row had they won. This is the first win for the team from Villiers School, Limerick who designed and built the robots from scratch under the guidance of teacher James Browne.

Speaking to the value of participating in the competition, Mr. Browne said, “Each year we really look forward to taking part in the EA Robot Games competition. I think the competition is a great way for our students to experience designing, manufacturing and programming robotics at the cold face. The process involves a lot of knowledge and skills which the leaving certificate course in Technology entails. The competition also provides an excellent opportunity for the students to engage with both from a hands-on and technical perspective where the essence of robotics is explored.”

“I love the enthusiasm and determination students display throughout the process, from the initial design to processing the parts using CADCAM and eventually programming the micro controller to make their robot work independently. It culminates in a great day out for the students at the EA Robot Games competition and who knows where our robots will take us”, he added.

‘Excited 2016 – Celebrating Success and Sharing Innovation’, is Ireland’s only Digital Learning Festival and brings together teachers, students, academics, policy makers and industry leaders to celebrate and showcase groundbreaking innovation in Irish education. Excited is supported by Science Foundation Ireland, the largest competitive funder of science and innovation in Ireland, and took place in Dublin Castle on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st of May.

Further information on all events that took place is available at www.excited.ie