Dancing with Robots

RoboCup Junior is a worldwide robotics competition for students up to the age of 19 and has been taking place every summer for the past 9 years. The aim of RoboCup Junior is to promote science and technology and to inspire young people to be involved with robotics. Both Primary and Secondary schools take part in a range of competitions including Robot Dance, Robot Rescue and Robot Football! The competition is a fantastic way to get involved in the world of technology in ways you never dreamed of before. Programming robots to play football, whatever next?!

Making it big

Amberfield School from Suffolk first achieved World Champion status in 2006 for their success in the Dance competition. Their winning troupe, The Flight of the Phantom Phoenixes, was comprised of 7 girls aged 13-14 and 7 robots accomplices. The girls programmed the cute feathered robots to dance to music as part of a 2 minute routine. This year’s final in China saw more teams enter from both Amberfield and Farlingaye High School. The winning ‘St Trinian’s’ team designed a life-size humanoid robotic St Trinian’s Head Girl who danced alongside team members together with computer controlled disco lights and more. We’re thinking they were maybe inspired by a certain film released last year?

Experience of a lifetime

Dr Hughes, the girls’ mentor says, ‘To win the World Championship title for 3 years running is an outstanding achievement for the ‘St Trinian’s’ team. They have learnt so much about robotics, programming, engineering and teamwork.’ The girls built the robots themselves using programming languages they had never used before. Lizzie Grinnell says ‘Being part of this competition was an awesome experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life.’