In the months preceding our latest robot event, Peter Bennett, Commanding Officer of the Eurofighter Typhoon robot squad, and Roger Hill, electronics guru who made our light up circuits and Guitar amps possible, have been working with Edinburgh Air Cadets and members of the PHS Engineering Club, to produce six fully functional robots to compete in the UK robotics contest. 10 air cadets and two engineering club members travelled down to the heat in Wigan on the 14th to compete for a place in the final.

The robots that we took with us were more powerful than anything we’ve had to play with in the past (with the possibly exception of the Typhoon visit). The six identical models are powered by dual electric drill motors, and although I don’t know it’s top speed or average Kinetic Energy, an indication of the punch it packs is the size of the dent it left in one of the cupboards in Lab 3 (to protect the individual responsible for this test smash, he shall remain anonymous). The two robots which were to be controlled by the engineering club were rapidly finished off weeks prior to the event on top of the Hill’s kitchen table. My thanks to those who helped out in those last vital stages but couldn’t make it to the contest in Wigan.

Several days before the contest, Oliver Carson and myself had just two training sessions to familiarise ourselves with the controls of the robot. While Olly has experience with driving video games and remote control cars, I found I was slightly more novice than he was. By the second practice I was improving however, as the amount of smashes I encountered was significantly less than before.

We were driven down by Mr & Mrs Hill while the Air Cadets took a minibus and the robots. We stopped at a youth hostel and attached our stickers onto our robots. The robot I was captain of was called PHS, and had our school logo on its sides. It stood out from the other robots as they all had the RAF symbol instead. There was Harrier, 870 Sqn, 287 Sqn, 2461 Sqn, and 869 Sqn which Olly captained.

The first match PHS and 869 competed in saw Olly and myself at the controls. PHS stayed in goals while 869 was our team’s striker. 869 scored two fantastic goals and then our opponents went on full attack. In the fray PHS somehow managed to score an own goal (whoops, my bad) but made up for it by scoring the third goal with mere seconds left in the match. For the next round the drivers had to swap with those who had sat out in the first round, and unfortunately PHS and 869 didn’t make it through to the final. However, the air cadets went fourth to annihilate all that opposed them and won the contest. There was also a playoff for third place. Olly and I were back at the controls, and our victory was inevitable. Well done to all of the air cadets for their superb efforts.

We came back with medals, certificates, and an invite to the final in Birmingham sometime in July. Look here then to find out the rest of the story. Weather we approach victory or defeat, we’re certain to enjoy it and have as much fun as we did in Wigan.