West Cumbrian students have showcased their robotic solutions at an event to mark the culmination of a challenge.
The youngsters from West Coast Sixth Form Centre, based in Workington and Whitehaven, Energy Coast UTC, and Lakes College West Cumbria, both based in Lillyhall.
Students took part in the six-week Robotics Sprint schools challenge, organised by the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration and Industrial Solutions Hub (iSH), with support from volunteers from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Sellafield Ltd.
The event took place at the RAICo1 facility in Whitehaven.
The sprint involved teams designing, building, and programming small robots capable of tackling a mock version of a real-world nuclear decommissioning challenge – gathering high hazard waste barrels from a hot cell area and moving them to a storage area.
To do this, students created attachments for their robots and programmed them to move along a winding track.
At the final showcase, the students presented their solutions and gave live demonstrations to an audience of industry delegates, educators, and judges.
As part of their presentations, they reflected on the brief, sharing the challenges and triumphs they encountered along the way, and highlighted the technical and soft skills they developed.
Following the presentations, West Coast Sixth Form Centre was announced as the winning team, impressing the judges with their robot, Better Monty.
The programme gave the students, who are studying A-levels and T-levels in fields such as cyber security and digital, hands-on experience of applying their course skills to real-world challenges.
During weekly sprint sessions, they developed capabilities in mechanical design, coding, problem-solving and teamwork, with hands-on coaching from experts working in robotics, AI, and engineering. The experts also gave students an insight into their work, and advice on career paths.
Kirsty Hewitson, director of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration, said: “What a truly marvellous day, thanks to everybody who’s contributed to it. It’s amazing to see how enthusiastic and committed the students have been with some phenomenal designs and outcomes.”
Gary McKeating, managing director of Industrial Solutions Hub added: “I’m always amazed by the ability of the students to deliver on a project that only lasts a few weeks. As well as the technical skills, it’s great to see some of the softer skills have been worked on as well. In particular Lakes College powering through some challenges early in the sprint and getting to a great conclusion with their robot.”
James Partington, director of engineering policy & impact, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “It was fantastic to see the hard work of the students come to fruition at RAICo1.
“It was a practical application of science, and they demonstrated an excellent grasp of different engineering disciplines in delivering their demonstrator robots, which will no doubt put them in a strong position as they take steps towards a career in engineering.
“The support from the IMechE, iSH, RAICo and industry representatives is very welcome. Their collaborative effort to inspire and support the next generation of engineers is working well and will benefit the West Cumbria region through the creation of a strong pipeline of future engineers.”
