Robotics Club at Agrupamento Raul Proença wins double victory at BotOlympics
The Programming and Robotics Club "Robotics Code Raul" of Agrupamento de Escolas Raul Proença, Caldas da Rainha, stood out at the 9th edition of the BotOlympics Robotics Competition, held at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Coimbra from 11 to 14 May, achieving an exceptional result by securing first place in both the basic education and secondary education trials. Twelve students from the club took part in this event, divided into three teams of four students.
BotOlympics is an educational and training event whose aim is to introduce the world of robotics to the most curious participants. Made up of three trials running simultaneously for students from basic education through to higher education, it takes place in a hackathon-style environment over four days, during which participants must develop ways to achieve the objectives of each trial.
The secondary education trial (Bot'n Roll) simulated the transport of goods between a warehouse and several delivery locations. The challenge was to program a robot capable of making a delivery in the shortest possible time, transporting a simulated order in a box along one of the proposed routes, and then returning to one of the nearest bases to recharge. The robot had to use, initially, the lines indicating various routes to reach the delivery location, thus simulating the path indicated by GPS, and then navigate only through the use of optical obstacle detection sensors (Lidars) to reach one of the nearest bases.
The basic education trial (ISR) simulated a car driving on a road with junctions and animals crossing. The robot had to reach the final destination in the shortest possible time, staying on the guide line throughout the entire course, making decisions at the various junctions and avoiding the obstacles that arose.
The "Robotics Code Raul" club is made up of thirty students aged between 12 and 18 and meets on Fridays from 1:35 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The club's objectives are to investigate and develop projects involving robots and electronic circuits, provide learning of fundamental programming concepts in a fun way, and take part in initiatives related to the use of programming languages and robotics, namely in the various national robotics competitions. It aims to equip students with transversal skills such as analytical thinking, problem solving, collaborative work and creativity. Through educational robotics as a means of introducing programming languages and carrying out experimental activities, the student becomes the builder of their own knowledge, through observation, practice and collaborative work.
