On Thursday, the Year 5 Digital Leaders attended a robotics competition at Kensington Preparatory School in London.
They competed against six other GDST schools in a series of challenges, including balloon-popping robot wars, obstacle courses, a straight-line speed test, and a maze challenge. Their robots performed impressively, and the teams collaborated effectively to update the code between events. They finished in second place overall.
“We learnt that to overcome a challenge we needed to problem solve and try different solutions to eventually figure out the correct answer. For example when team pink’s robot wouldn’t work they had to come up with different ideas so that it eventually worked and could do the code they programmed it to do. When the blue team were using the line following code we needed to adjust the speed so that the robot went slower around the corners of the course and a bit quicker when it was straight.”Amelia, Year 5 pupil & Digital Leader
The group would like to thank Mr Smith, the network manager, for accompanying them on the trip alongside Mrs Shallcross. As a prize for coming second, they received a micro:bit Wonder Building Kit, which they are excited to unpack and explore on Monday!
“I really enjoyed the robot challenge at Ken Prep! I learned how to work well and collaborate with others under a timed pressure. Although the robot was programmed to do everything the competition required, we did have to alter some of the code to suit the different challenges. For example, Blue Team had to alter their codes to ensure the robot completed line following accurately, due to a problem with the turning speed. Overall, the trip was amazing and I really enjoyed it!”Jasmine, Year 5 pupil & Digital Leader