Members of the ̨��swag Family are celebrating their great success at the FIRST UK Tech Challenge.

The FIRST UK Tech Challenge is described as ‘way more than building robots.’ Teams are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliange format.

The ̨��swag Family enjoyed great success at a regional tournament held at the National STEM Learning Centre at the University of York. Two of the ̨��swag Family, ̨��swag Academy Foxhills and ̨��swag Academy Shafton, were part of the tournament winning alliance. The two academies were joined in the alliance by Leeds UTC.

Following the qualification stage, four ̨��swag academies were in the top five of best performing robots with ̨��swag Academy Newbold leading the way in first place. ̨��swag Academy Foxhills were third, with ̨��swag Academy Adwick in fourth and ̨��swag Grange Academy in fifth.

The ̨��swag Family also enjoyed widespread success across the award categories. The most impressive win going to ̨��swag Academy Newbold who took home the Inspire Award, which is given to the team that best embodies the challenge of the First Tech Challenge program.

The award win means that ̨��swag Academy Newbold will now go into a special pool of Inspire Award winners from around the country, to compete at the National Championships for a place at the world First Championships in America in April.

Joining ̨��swag Academy Newbold in London for the National Championships are ̨��swag Academy Foxhills, ̨��swag Academy Adwick, ̨��swag Academy Shafton and ̨��swag Grange Academy.

Ben Barnes, Director of Computer Science at ̨��swag, said:

“I am beyond proud of how all the ̨��swag teams did at the regional Tech Challenge in York. Overall seven ̨��swag academies took part and it is unbelievable that five of these have been successful at getting through to the National Championships.

“At ̨��swag we believe in putting students first to help them reach their potential and we believe this goes beyond the classroom. Events like this as an example of this and I am so proud of how all the students conducted themselves first and foremost. They were an absolute credit to the ̨��swag Family.”

The challenge is run by FIRST UK which stands for ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’. The not-for-profit charity FIRST was initially established in the US in 1989 to help inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. FIRST UK was established in 2014 after founder Vikrant Bhargava attended the FIRST Championships in America.

The National Championships will be held at London’s Olympic Park on 27-28 March and the ̨��swag Family teams are now shifting into fundraising mode and on the lookout for sponsors.

Although in its infancy in the UK, the FIRST Championships are a global affair held in the US. This year will see the FIRST World Championships, powered by Star Wars; Force for Change,  take place in Detroit at the end of April.

The event will see over 70,000 people attend, with 30,000 students across 1,400 teams. Depending on how the five ̨��swag Family academies get on at the National Championships in London in March, they could be there competing.

Ben added:

“It is mind-blowing to think that some of the ̨��swag Family students could be there at the World's competing at the FIRST Championship. They have all been unbelievable up to this point, showing a great attitude as well as great knowledge. 

“I just hope people can help support them in their fundraising efforts to get to the National Championships.”

Other ̨��swag Family award winners on the day

Control Award, sponsored by Arm
Winner: ̨��swag Academy Foxhills Runner-up: ̨��swag Academy Newbold

This award celebrates a team that uses sensors and software to increase the robot’s functionality in the field. The winning team demonstrates innovative thinking to solve game challenges. 

Motivate Award
Winner: ̨��swag Grange Academy Runner-up: ̨��swag Academy Carlton

This judged award celebrates the team that represents the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit and displayed enthusiasm. This is a team who makes a collective effort to make FIRST known throughout their school and community, and sparks others to embrace the culture of FIRST.

Design Award
Winner: ̨��swag Academy Adwick

The Design Award is presented to teams that incorporate industrial design elements into their solution. These design elements could simplify the robot’s appearance by giving it a clean look, be decorative in nature, or otherwise express the creativity of the team. The robot should be durable, efficiently designed, and effectively address the game challenge.