News & Events

Robotic skills on show at annual school competition

Hunter schools were encouraged to build their engineering skills last month at the annual Hunter Regional RoboCup Junior competition, hosted by the University of Newcastle.

The competition is a spin-off of the international RoboCup scientific initiative, a project aimed at furthering research into robotic automation, with the goal of getting kids engaged and involved in robotics and engineering.

The competition consists of three separate judged events – Dance, Soccer and Rescue, where each robot is judged on its ability to respond to the stimulus provided.

Children from 15 primary and secondary schools across the Hunter were involved with the project with 53 participating teams and around 250 attending on the day. The winners were Hamilton South Primary (Dance), Glendale High School (Soccer) and Belmont High School (Rescue).

Co-ordinator of the project, Aaron Wong, said that getting kids involved in engineering at a young age will drive innovation for the future.

"RoboCup Junior is all about getting kids involved to spark their minds to think about robotics."

"It teaches them the logical framework and the patience needed to solve these engineering problems. Getting these kids passionate will mean faster evolution of technology."

Watch a video of the completion on YouTube.