A team of primary school pupils from Donegal has claimed victory at the VEX All-Ireland Robotics Championships and will now represent Ireland at the World Championships in the United States next month.
The students from Dromore National School, Killygordon, began their VEX robotics journey last year while in 5th class. In their first competition season, they finished third at the ATU North West VEX Championships, narrowly missing out on qualification for the All-Ireland finals.
After the release of the new VEX game last May, the team began designing and building a new robot, researching ideas online to improve scoring and performance. Their project received a major boost when Aurivo provided €2,000 in sponsorship, allowing the school to set up a dedicated STEM room, which became the team’s VEX headquarters.
From September onwards, the pupils worked regularly during lunchtimes and Friday afternoons on building, programming and coding their robot, under the supervision of Mr Coulter and Mrs Kelly. They also competed in a “scrimmage” event at Finn Valley College in November, where they won a pneumatic kit that helped enhance their design.
Despite numerous rebuilds and technical challenges, the team continued refining their robot and practising their driving and coding skills, often giving up time during school holidays and weekends.
Their hard work paid off at the ATU North West Championships in January, where they won first place in Driving Skills and were crowned Teamwork Champions. The school was also named the overall best school, and Mr Coulter received the VEX Teacher of the Year award. The results secured the team’s place at the All-Ireland Championships in Cork.
At the national finals, the Donegal team topped the qualification rounds, finishing 50 points ahead of their nearest rivals. In the final, they were partnered with a school from Laois, and together they scored 212 points to win the All-Ireland title. They also won the Driving Skills competition.
The victory means the team will now travel to St Louis, Missouri to compete at the VEX World Championships. They are currently making further improvements to their robot while fundraising to support the trip.
The group recently came into studio to speak with Donna-Marie Doherty about their success and their preparations for the world stage:
It’s estimated that getting the team to the world finals in America will cost €45,000. A Go Fund me has been established with appeals being made to businesses across the county to pledge their support.
Those wishing to support can do so here: https://gofund.me/619128fc0
