LATEST NEWS
Back
Chiswick Cyborgs
The Chiswick Cyborgs returned with a brand- new team for their fourth year in the First Tech Challenge since 2022. The First Tech Challenge is a worldwide robotics competition that involves teams being tasked to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realising the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.
This year, we had a record number (22) of students from Years 9, 12, and 13. All members played an active role in the preparation for the competition, attending after-school clubs twice a week. The team was nervous going into the competition due to a lack of experience and the tight deadlines. However, by the third week of the club, students were staying behind on their half-days and free periods, as well as a few staying until 7pm in the last few days in a race to prepare the robots for the competition. This dedication led to the team building two amazing robots and success at the regional tournament, competing against twenty schools.
Our robot was one of two robots that were able to launch their aeroplane during the match and it also scored the highest individual robot score. Following the qualification round, Chiswick Cyborgs were placed 5th (Team 004) and 9th (Team 182) after the qualification round out of 20 teams. Team 004 qualified for the semi-finals and had the power to select an alliance team for the semi-finals. They selected the second Chiswick Cyborgs Team 182 as part of their alliance. Both teams did really well to compete and overcame various challenges on the day such as the gripping arm falling off and programming errors!
The Cyborgs managed to keep up with school tradition and came back with a Think Award trophy and also came second in the Motivate Award. Our students have gained a lot of experience at the competition in their first attempt, and this was a fantastic achievement for the Chiswick Cyborgs and the school. Chiswick Cyborgs are also first on the waiting list for the national championship with a chance of going to the world championships!
