DkIT Hosts First VEX Robotics Primary School Scrimmage

27 November 2018

The School of Informatics and Creative Arts and School of Engineering at DkIT were delighted to welcome 170+ primary school children and their teachers from across the region on Monday 12th November 2018, to take part in the VEX Robotics@DkIT scrimmage (competition preparation event). Students and teachers from across the region visited DkIT, including schools from Tinure, Terminfeckin, Gaelscoil na Ríthe, Educate Together, CBS Primary, Scoil Mhuire N Gael, Sandpit and Aston Village, Drogheda, St. Mary's Knockbridge and Kilkerley. A fun day was had by all.

What is VEX Robotics@DkIT?

VEX Robotics@DkIT is a collaborative outreach initiative being co-ordinated by the School of Informatics and Creative Arts and the School of Engineering that promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) within primary and secondary schools. It is an exciting program where school children from 8-18 years learn about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in a unique and fun environment!

As a team they design, build and program a robot with which they compete in various technical and skills challenges against other school teams. The competitions are run locally, nationally and internationally (https://www.vexrobotics.com/competition). In addition to STEM, students acquire other skills such as project management, group presentations, teamwork, leadership skills and much more.

The recent scrimmage at DkIT focused on the VEX IQ, which is aimed at primary school level, with a further post-primary school level scrimmage, the VEX EDR, to take place later this year. Each year Vex international set a new challenge and students work as a team to design, build, program and control their robot in a games arena. Teams have to develop strategies to complete the challenges set.

DkIT received funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) in 2018, in collaboration with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), to launch the VEX Robotics@DkIT program. DkIT will host the regional VEX Robotics primary school competition on 18th January 2019, with the winners of this competition going forward to the national competition, which takes place in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in early 2019. The winners of the national competition can then compete in the international competition later in 2019, normally hosted in Kentucky, USA.

VEX Robotics@DkIT woudl like to wish all of the schools and students taking part, the very best of luck and we looks forward to welcoming them back to the regional finals in January 2019.