The USA FIRST Robotics Competition Day is the culmination of several months of preparation by participating teams and gives students the opportunity to apply their skills in the real world and gain valuable experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
For the first time and as the only one of two from the Czech Republic, a team of students from secondary schools of the Ústí Region RobUL participated in this prestigious international competition, which they put together, supported with the help of experts and, thanks to the acquisition of sponsors, financed the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region. The team worked hard for several months on the assignment from the competition organizers and the result was a remotely controlled and partially autonomous robotic vehicle that can drop rings into a pre-defined space and perform other tasks. It was successful, and the student team traveled to Chicago, USA, before Easter, to compete with 50 teams from around the world regarding the quality of execution, speed and characteristics of the robot during the holidays.
The Ústí Region's councilor for education, youth and sport, Jindra Zalabáková, believed in the team from the beginning: "I am very happy. With its creativity and abilities, the RobUL team represents not only our city and region, but also the Czech Republic. It is a good promotion of our region and for the pupils themselves it means a lot of experience and, I believe, great experiences as well."
The competition started with the arrival of the teams at the competition venue, the teams had time to set up their stations, check and prepare their robots and equipment. Teams then engaged in a series of qualifying matches, which consisted of various games or tasks, such as manipulating game objects, building structures, or navigating the playing field. After the qualifying matches, the best teams were selected to participate in the playoffs and finals. At the same time, not only game results were evaluated, but also innovation, cooperation, professional behavior of the teams and other aspects.
Best Rookie
Ústí's RobUL team won three times and lost seven times out of 10 qualifying matches played. This made him one of the best rookies in the competition, placing a beautiful 35th overall out of 50 teams.
"Given that the competition is celebrating its 35th anniversary and some teams have been competing regularly since the first year, have more experience, well-known partners and support in the order of hundreds of thousands of USD, the RobUL team represented Europe, the Czech Republic and the Ústí Region more than brilliantly," adds Martin Mata, director of ICUK and one of the main initiators of the position of the Ustě team.
The victory this year was won by an alliance consisting of high schools from Chicago and Hawaii. However, there was no unpleasant rivalry between the teams, 2 days before the competition, one of the local schools even offered the Ústí team the opportunity to share training space together with several other teams at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, where the locals have the opportunity to train and prepare for the competition all year round.
"This year was very demanding and full of emotions. During the competition, it was clear that the RobUL team is taken very seriously by others, and with a little luck, unceasing efforts and energy, we will be among the best in the future. As a freshman, we were clearly the best team.” ICUK project manager Tamara Klein, who managed the entire project for ICUK and accompanied the team to the competition, comments on the result.
It wouldn't be possible without sponsors
"Special thanks goes to the Hudský family, who brought this topic to our region. Son Václav, who had experience with the competition from a study stay in the USA, and was a leader in this year's team, and especially father Petr Hudský, who inspired me for the project. I would like to pay a huge tribute to the entire team of students, mentors and colleagues from ICUK for the result and the representation. Last but not least, I would like to personally thank the sponsors who found the courage to go with us, and partners from the Ústí Region and UJEP, who took the project as their own,” concludes ICUK director Martin Mata.
The RobUL project was supported by: philanthropist and CEO WAG payment solutions Martin Vohanka, company SEV.EN INNTECH,Martin Mata personally, companies Centropol Energy, Municipal cultural facilities in Litoměřice, NYYLO, agency Dream Pro, ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation and society Malfini as and project mentors from the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering YEP, Secondary School and Vocational School Packaging techniques in Štětí and from among parents. The project received the patronage of the Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš and was supported by the Ústí Region.
On behalf of the entire ICUK, we congratulate you and wish you the best of luck in the coming years.
