Student success in international robotics competition
A team of students from Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Engineering and Computer Science has taken out first place in an international robotics competition.
The National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition (NIARC) is an annual event which brings together teams from top universities in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Teams work together to build a robot that is able to undertake a range of tasks—such as navigating a course or moving items between locations—without intervention.
This year’s competition was built around the theme “Fast Track to the Future”, which saw the teams working to complete tasks including going through hazardous terrain, bumps, and avoiding obstacles all while optimising performance to maximise efficiency with the objective of earning the most points
Victoria University’s team was made up of nine students from across different year groups and majors within the school.
Team leader and Software Engineering student Megan Liang says, “We are very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the competition for the past six years. It's been an awesome experience for all the team members where the knowledge that has been learned and passed on year after year has been invaluable in our studies.”
Since the competition started in 2011, NIARC has grown from 10 teams to 20 teams in 2018 from 20 top universities throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Victoria University has had success in previous years—placing first in 2013, 2nd runner up in 2015, and winning the ‘Best Robot Design’ award in both 2014 and 2015.
Find out more about this year’s competition here.