“Engineering in Sports” was the theme in this year’s Lego Robot Competition. For the finals in Cork, local schools were challenged to build and program robots to play basketball, using a kit supplied by the Cork Electronics Industry Association (CEIA).
The Glanmire team who won the best project presentation prize: Kiran Scayu, Katrina Sarva, Luna Tottesel Rave and Kevin O'Dowd
The winning robot was built and programmed by a team from St Francis Capuchin College, Rochestown.
They had stiff competition in the final from the girls from Ursuline, Blackrock, Co Cork.
The Ursuline team’s robot, named “Michael Jordan” after the famous basketball star, had topped the scoreboard in all the previous rounds.
The finals of the annual competition took place at Maryborough House Hotel in Cork.
The winning team received a Logitech laptop for their school and each team member also received a Logitech Squeezebox Boom Wi-Fi player.
The Rochestown team also took the honours for the best electronic scoreboard design, while Glanmire Community College won the best project presentation prize.
Learning about engineering
The winning team from St Francis College, Rochestown: Philip Reid, Luke Butler, Alan Baldwin and Evan Shelly
The competition, now in its sixth year, is run in conjunction with University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, Tyndall National Institute and the support of CEIA member companies.
Engineers, researchers and technologists from these institutes provide mentor support for the teams and this is an important opportunity to give the students an insight into potential careers in the industry.
While working on the competition, the students learn a high level of robotics and software programming techniques, and develop their project management, teamwork and presentation skills.
They are also encouraged to think about electrical and electronic engineering courses at third level and become innovators of the future.
