Limerick pupils wrestle their way to victory in robotics competition
STUDENTS from one Limerick school wrestled their way to victory at the 8th Annual Analog Devices Primary School Robotics competition.
The day-long STEM-inspired challenge, organised by Analog Devices Inc (ADI), saw over 120 primary school children go to battle with their self-designed sumo wrestling robots.
Teams of children, between 10 and 12, from 32 schools across Limerick City and County gathered at the Analog campus in Raheen for the annual competition.
They worked towards building and programming their own robots before entering the ring and pitting their robotic creations against each other, sumo-style, that afternoon in a series of knock-out rounds. Points were awarded for teamwork as well as design and innovation.
Announcing the winners, Bernard Stenson, Director, Process Development Engineering at ADI, said: “Through our education outreach programmes, we hope to inspire the next generation of innovators. The primary school robotics program is one of our most popular programmes and it’s easy to see why. Today, we saw children work together as a team to engineer solutions. That is quite remarkable. Congratulations to the winners as well as everyone who took part, their enthusiasm was infectious."
Ann O’Sullivan, Director, Process Development & Resilience at ADI added: “Access to STEM Education is very important to ADI. Through the primary school robotics programme, students from all backgrounds get access to the fundamentals of robotic design and high-quality STEM education. We were delighted to work together with LearnIt to encourage children to embrace their curiosity and problem-solving skills in a truly fun environment.”
Now in its eight year, more than 6,000 students across Limerick city and country have participated in the Analog Devices Primary School Robotics Competition.
Previous winners included Scoil Ide (2015), St Patrick's Girls NS (2016), Our Lady Queen of Peace NS (2017), Killoughteen NS (2018), Scoil Mhuire, Broadford (2019), St Patricks NS, Bruree (2020), as well as St Patrick’s National School, Dublin Road (2022).
The schools who participated this year were:
Ahane NS
Caherconlish NS
Caherline NS
Castleconnell NS
Christ the Saviour NS, Ballingarry
Crecora NS
Donoughmore NS
Dromtrasna NS
Gaelscoil an Ráithín
Killoughteen NS
Knockea NS
Limerick East Educate Together NS
Lisnagry NS
Monagea NS
Monaleen NS
Murroe NS
Our Lady of Lourdes NS, Rosbrien
Our Lady Queen of Peace School, Janesboro
Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh, Roxborough
Scoil Fhionáin, Kilfinane
Scoil Íde, Corbally
Scoil Mháthair Dé, South Circular Road
Scoil Mhuire, Broadford
Scoil Mocheallóg, Kilmallock
Scoil Naomh Iósaf, Adare
St. Patrick's BNS, Dublin Road
St. Patrick's NS Bruree
St. Fergus' NS, Glin
St. James' NS, Cappagh
St. Joseph's N.S., Ballybrown
St. Paul’s NS, Dooradoyle