Laois recently hosted the county’s first Junior Cycle VEX IQ Robotics Competition which enables student teams to take part in battles of engineering wits, coding prowess and teamwork collaboration.
The event took place in Mountrath as part of Laois County Laois Rural Broadband Project.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become an important part of the educational curriculum at all levels across Ireland.
VEX IQ is a STEM program designed to improve digitalisation skills, build a framework for STEM engagement, and increase student uptake in STEM subjects that include design, science, coding and ICT skills.
Participating schools create teams of students from first- to third-year to take part and build a Hero Bot called ‘Swish’ from a VEX IQ kit.
Students and their teachers learn about robot building and engineering, coding and improving their robot design throughout the process.
Teams from Laois’s secondary schools were put to the test in Mountrath Community School to play ‘Rapid Relay’, the competition game for the 2024/25 academic year all over the world.
Rapid Relay involves teamwork collaboration for one part, and individual team skills for two other parts.
Points are scored as alliances work together in 60-seconds matches to score goals that knock back up to four goal-arm switches, plus they make and receive passes of the balls between robots.
The value of passes is determined on the number of goal-arm switches forced open during play.
The game is fast with practice and strategizing key factors to success for both teams during a competition day.
Additional skill strategies include individual teams’ own 60-second Driving Skills Challenge and Autonomous Skills Challenge: coding their robot with Python-based Scratch to perform Rapid Relay with pre-programmed instructions they write will dictate how to move, pick-up and score.
All of this is done inside any number of eight-feet by six-feet arenas on location on the day, making for fun and fast-paced matches.
The event is part of a €3.9 million investment project to boost economic growth in Laois and the Midlands.
The participating schools were Coláiste Íosagáin Portarlington; Clonaslee College; St Mary’s CBS Portlaoise; Dunamase College Portlaoise; and hosts, Mountrath Community School.
The three schools that achieved highest points to progress to the National Finals in Cork are Dunamase College Portlaoise, Mountrath Community School, and Coláiste Íosagáin Portarlington.
The Junior Cycle National Finals will be held in MTU Cork on Wednesday, February 26, with the overall inners at this stage being automatically selected to represent Ireland at the VEX IQ World Championships in Texas, USA in early May.
“Laois is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled people in many areas that the Midlands Pathway Plan aims to fill,” said Councillor Padraig Fleming, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council.
“Laois needs people with these skills today and in the future. This growth will help Laois become more skilled, more sustainable and offer a better quality of life in our communities, especially in retaining rural populations.”
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