Scotch College

Exciting achievements for Robotics team in world titles

Scotch’s team of Year 7 boys – David Barrell, Ryan Erskine, Robert Hayes, David Newland, Harry Philip and Stuart Sim – all Junior School boys from last year, performed brilliantly at the World RoboCup championships in Bremen, Germany, finishing in the top eight of the 26 teams from 18 countries competing in the junior dance section.

The competition was held in Bremen, Germany, at the same time as the soccer World Cup.

Last year our team, the ‘X-Plosive Gadgets’ came second in the junior dance category of the Australian RoboCup junior Australian open championships. In the dance competition, participants program their robots to dance to music.

Competition was tough in Bremen. There was an initial setback, when radio interference caused part of the electronic technology the boys created to malfunction. Our boys had to reprogram their entire group of five robots, and the teamwork and commitment required to do this was a real highlight.

There are two parts to the RoboCup dance section – a rigorous interview by a judging panel and a performance on stage involving the team and their robots. The boys were thrilled that both the interview and the performance were most successful. All their hard work had paid off.

Our team then faced an anxious wait for the list of eight finalists to be announced. The feeling of jubilation was wonderful as the X-Plosive Gadgets’ name appeared on the list.

The finals were exciting, with the team again performing extremely well. Three teams were declared the World Champions, and although Scotch wasn’t one of them, making the finals was the aim, and the boys knew they had achieved their goal.

As well as the dance division, many other competitions took place in the enormous venue and our boys experienced and discovered cutting-edge technology in many different forms.

I am sure this unique experience will always stay with the boys during their journey through life, and I hope it will influence them to explore more and more in the areas of science and technology. I also wish to thank all the parents who travelled with their sons and provided tremendous support during the competition.

Jocelyn Pride
Year 6 Coordinator