End-Tech, a robotics team from Endon High School in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire have won their second consecutive victory at the regional contest. That team of five—comprised Malachi, Owen, James, Ethan Saunders and one other—flashed their creativity and dynamism. They designed, constructed and coded a working robot that demonstrated its ability to address multiple challenges defined by the judges.
The regional contest was a true display of their talent with teams from across the region, including competitors from as far away as Bradford. Participants were challenged to build a robot that would navigate through obstacles to accomplish a range of select tasks. Points were given for not only completing these specific challenges, but to an on-stage presentation explaining the robot’s design and capabilities.
This wasn’t an easy win, though this year’s competition was more competitive than ever, with End-Tech competing against tougher competition not seen in past years. Malachi pointed out that “teams were just a little bit better this year,” which heightened the competition at the end. Fighting against that increased challenge, the team absolutely crushed their competition.
Owen noted some other new features of their robot. He continues “This time we have a whole new robot with color sensors, which makes it so much easier to use. These color sensors helped make the robot very efficient at overcoming the obstacles that were thrown at them during the contest. Malachi further elaborated on the technological advancements, noting, “We’ve swapped to a new coding software that uses Python so it’s much more accurate than it used to be.”
The team spent countless hours coding and assembling their robot after school and on weekends. Next, their commitment to one another as a team helped return them victorious from a barrage of challenges leveled by the judges. James even went so far as to call the experience “nail biting,” a sentiment that accurately captures the tension and exhilaration of the competition.
This is an extraordinary win for End-Tech! They will now go on to proudly represent Staffordshire at the forthcoming First Lego League UK National Final in Harrogate later this year. This year’s the team’s eager to showcase their talents on a national stage. They hope to improve upon their success from the regional competition.