Robotics
Our Pymble Robotics teams competed in the VEX IQ Competition Tournament 1 and the VEX Robotics Competition Tournament 1, with four teams qualifying for the VEX Nationals in Sydney in December 2022.
For many of our Junior VEX IQ teams, this was the first in-person tournament, after years of remote events due to Covid-19. Robotics tournaments are more than just competing in matches. They require time management, making sure they arrive at matches and other events on time in addition to solving the inevitable problems that pop up during the day. It can be an overwhelming experience, but one that prepares our students for the challenges they face in any career.
The morning of the VEX IQ Competition Tournament 1 started with qualification matches, with many of our young teams performing admirably.
In Pymble team 6510E The Robotic Cookies, Anika Verma (Year 5) and Phoebe Scott (Year 5) were placed in the top 10 for most of the morning, with their sturdy and deceptively simple robot, Chip, scoring solid points.
Sophia Wong (Year 5) and Audrey Wyldhil (Year 5) entered a very creative robot that sported scissor lifts, spinners and a far-reaching arm. This was a wild, unique and creative entry which was built from a desire for exploration.
In Pymble team VEX Vegetables, Lily Xing (Year 6) and Scarlett Wong (Year 6) entered an engineeringly sound robot, Broccoli, that was so strong it did not break and racked up points with a solid strategy.
After qualifying rounds, it was finals time, and three Pymble teams made it through.
The 6510F VEX Koalas, being students Chloe Shao (Year 6), Nicole Fan (Year 6), Valerie Zhao (Year 6) and Elaine Zhang (Year 6), together with a Barker College team, put in a mammoth effort this build season. They developed their robot and trialled many types of designs. They were first to compete and posted a sound score of 35 points for finals. This team was very capable of scoring a final winning score, however, never quite had the opportunity to post its highest scores. Nonetheless, because of its ability to score points in many ways, it was one of the most consistent runners, and won the Build Award. Watch out for this robot in future competitions!
Next to compete was our Pymble alliance, 6510K Axolotls, Jessica Persson (Year 6), Celine Soo (Year 6) and Leahara Wijesuriya (Year 6) and 6510H, Kathy Wang (Year 6), Yuecheng Xu (Year 6) and Lulu Li (Year 6) who came from a hot qualifying round, where they worked together to score an impressive 89 points. In the finals they posted a solid 58 points, which saw them through to finishing third place on the day. Though they were very capable of scoring higher, unfortunately the nature of competition was that it wasn’t their day.
Celine Soo (Year 6) and Jessica Persson (Year 6) showed amazing resilience after their robot failed in the first few matches, posting a score far beneath their robot’s potential. Nonetheless, they persisted, and ended with one of the highest scores of the day in their last qualifying match. Celine and Jessica submitted a world-class engineering notebook that outlined their design process. Through their teamwork and high performing robot, Celine and Jessica won the Design Award.
All teams put in a stupendous effort, with Year 5 following on from Outdoor Education at Vision Valley the week before. What wonderful resilient and dedicated technicians we have – congratulations to all students!
Congratulations to all our Year 5 and Year 6 VEX IQ Competition teams:
6510A – Isabella Eum (Year 6), Heidi Ferreira (Year 6), Aurora Zhang (Year 6)
6510B – Sophia Wong (Year 5), Audrey Wyldhill (Year 5)
6510C VEX Vegetables – Lily Xing (Year 6), Scarlett Wong (Year 6)
6510D Azzz – Ashleigh Du (Year 5), Rebecca Zhou (Year 5)
6510E The Robot Cookies – Anika Verma (Year 5), Phoebe Scott (Year 5)
6510F VEX Koalas – Nicole Fan (Year 6), Chloe Shao (Year 6), Valerie Zhao (Year 6), Elaine Zhang (Year 6) – Finalists and Build Award
6510G The Robotics Children – Jennifer Xu (Year 5), Haley Zhang (Year 5), Ariana Ng (Year 5), Seline Jiang (Year 5)
6510H – Kathy Wang (Year 6), Yuecheng Xu (Year 6), Lulu Li (Year 6) – 3rd place finalists
6510J UHB – Kiara Excell (Year 5), Oriana Fenton (Year 5)
6510K Axelotls – Jessica Persson (Year 6), Celine Soo (Year 6), Leahara Wijesuriya (Year 6) – 3rd place finalists and Design Award. Qualified for Nationals.
6510M Pymble Tinkers – Annabella Bayfield (Year 6), Sophie Kidd (Year 6)
6510N Raptors – Jing Yuan Liu (Year 5), Angela Mao (Year 5), Sophia Felizzi (Year 5), Jennifer Xu (Year 5)
6510P Ice Cream – Sophie Harris (Year 6), Cabrini Lee (Year 6)
Our Year 7 and Year 8 teams competed in VEX V5 Competition, showed amazing teamwork across a hectic, action-packed day. They helped each other in many ways, including devising strategy and giving each other moral support throughout the day as challenges and problems arose. At one stage, 65100H Mia Squared, lost their identification plates, a mandatory requirement to complete. With no spares, they were given some by another team when Celine Liu (Year 7) hurried to their assistance.
Team, 65100R My Favourite Team, was first in the ranking for many of the qualification matches and eventually progressed to finals.
Team 65100C Pymble Primos, competed in the finals as alliance captains giving them the chance to choose which team they would like to progress with. When selecting a team, they were looking for one that would compliment their strategy. Choosing a team that was mid-table in the rankings, raised a few eyebrows, however, it was the right choice. The team went on to become Tournament Champions. However, this was not without challenges. Like other Pymble teams, the secret to their success was not just about technical skills, but the values the teams uphold. We are so proud of our team for focussing on what’s important and endeavouring to compete with pride and integrity. In addition to Tournament Champions, they also received the Innovate Award, for their design.
This season has been one of our strongest, with the most advanced field of robots our teams have ever produced. The judges were very impressed with our teams engineering notebooks, specifically team 65100F. They received accolades for documenting their engineering process and the judges were impressed with their knowledge in the technical areas of the robot. Consequently, they were awarded the Excellence Award, the highest award possible at a VEX tournament. This award not only considers robot performance, but their technical knowledge, engineering process and teamwork.
Team 65100A The Pymble Peashooters, placed 5th on robot skills, where their programming and driving skills are challenged over one minute. The team were given the Design Award.
What amazing results for all teams!
Congratulations to all our Years 7 and 8 VEX V5 Competition teams:
65100A The Pymble Peashooters – Anna Le (Year 8), Katherine Lee (Year 8), Iris Li (Year 8)
65100B Incognito – Audrey Lin (Year 7), Camille Xiao (Year 7), Helen Zheng (Year 7)
65100C Pymble Primos – Abani Dhaliwal (Year 7), Alice Mao (Year 7), Annabelle Li (Year 7), Kitty He (Year 7) – Tournament Champions and Innovate Award winners. Qualified for Nationals.
65100D Cappachina & the Marshmallows – Dia Verma (Year 7), Emily Huang (Year 7), Fiona Pan (Year 7), Jacquelyn Zhu (Year 7)
65100E Berries in Space – Celine Liu (Year 7), Jenny He (Year 7), Olivia Moon (Year 7), Jessica Shi (Year 8)
65100F SixFiveTenZeroF – Grace Beck (Year 8), Penelope Danziger (Year 8), Michelle Pan (Year 8), Rosa Kim (Year 8) – Excellence Award. Qualified for Nationals.
65100G Cabbage Radge – Audrey An (Year 8), Lexi Zhang (Year 7), Miranda Chen (Year 7), Bridget Wu (Year 7)
65100H Mia Squared – Catherine Zheng (Year 7), Mia Chan (Year 7), Mia Zhang (Year 7), Nicole Jiang (Year 7), Ranalee Siriwardana (Year 7)
65100J Spanish Luigis – Jessica Xu (Year 8), Jessica Zhai (Year 8), Jocelyn Ying (Year 8), Meimei Jiang (Year 8), Liuyi Cai (Year 8)
65100K Thina’s Churners – Elysia Sun (Year 8), Imogen Wu (Year 8), Lisa Wang (Year 8), Lucy Xie (Year 8)
65100M Defenestration – Amelia Carlan (Year 7), Charlotte Henderson (Year 7), Jemma Hung (Year 7), Nicole Zhang (Year 7)
65100N Pymble Guppies – Varada Vinay (Year 7), Isha Satpathy (Year 7), Nazgol Koochakzadeh (Year 7)
65100P Uno Reverse – Averie Sun (Year 7), Lillian Wang (Year 7), Sophie Guo (Year 7), Xiran Rong (Year 7)
65100R My Favourite Team – Isabella Zhang (Year 7), Manulya Gunasekera (Year 7), Nikita Srivastava (Year 8), Thenulya Gunasekera (Year 7)