On Wednesday 10th of June, a competition was held in my school. What was it all about, you may ask? Robots! I mean a competition where robots are fighting against each other, the ultimate goal being to push contenders out of the ring. There are two points that I’d like to raise:

First: Within their academic courses, sixteen-year old students can choose to take up engineering classes. As a matter of fact, it’s an upward trend in our school and their number is growing. Interestingly, when they first show up, they have very little their knowledge. As things go along, they start building up skills and knowledge in a variety of subject, such as mechanics, electronics, coding… no sooner does the last term come along, the challenge is launched. Working in group, they pool their efforts and resources to beat the competition, building from scratch a robot full of mechanical parts and Arduino cards. I’m always amazed to see how far they can go in such a short period of time.

Students during the competition

Second: I can’t help noticing the increasing interest in robotics over the past decade. Challenges have sprung up all over the world and renowned companies are offering supports and awards. In fact, students are really looking forward to it as they can be a door-opener for jobs and opportunities. In this day and age, it’s not to be sneezed that.

To sum it up, I have the feeling that our effort is paying off; the intake of scientific students is fast-booming and multidisciplinary projects like robots are certainly taking their part in this change. But we shouldn’t be carried away, we’ve come a long way and there is still a long way to go. In a way, Scientix has pioneered this working trend and could prove to be one answer for us to draw more students into this game.

Here are a few links to a robot wonderland:

In France:

• http://www.grenoble-inp.fr/grenoble-inp/first-tech-challenge-2016-inscription-en-ligne-615767.kjsp
• http://www.vexcompetition.fr/competitions/
• http://www.silicon.fr/la-nasa-propose-un-concours-de-programmation-sappuyant-sur-le-paas-bluemix-dibm-113366.html

Article written by Philippe Vignat, Scientix Deputy ambassador

Tags: Competition, engineering, Innovation, robotics, Scientix, Students