Engineering Students Battle in Robot Wars

The IDEA Centre at Cronton Sixth Form has been a hub for STEM activities since its opening and has recently played host to the North West regional finals of the VEX Robotics competition, Tower Takeover.

The competition saw nine teams of students from four colleges put their STEM skills to the test in a series of tricky robot challenges for the chance to compete at the national heats in London, followed by the VEX Robotics World Championships in April.

Competitors at this year’s event were teams from Cronton Sixth Form, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, UTC Sheffield OLP and Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School. The students put their knowledge and skills to the test as they were tasked with designing, building and programming their own robot as a team, before placing them into battle in the Robot Wars arena.   

Level 3 Engineering student at Cronton Sixth Form, Benjamin Roberts said “I have had a fantastic time at the VEX Robotics event, it has been a really interesting day. I’ve loved putting the skills that I developed in class to the test in a real life situation.”

Jo Hall, Head of Engineering at Cronton Sixth Form said, “Events like these are amazing for our students, it gives them the opportunity to work in a fast paced scenario as part of a team, using the knowledge and skills they have developed themselves. We are really looking forward to see what next year’s event brings.”