On May 17, AURA helped run the Kiwi Challenge Auckland regionals at Massey University. The turnout was good, with 34 teams representing 15 different schools. Eliminations were played with eight alliances of three. It was a very interesting elimination bracket. Out of the seven elimination matches there were five upsets. The finals were between the fifth ranked alliance (2901C and …
AURA vs AUT newbie challenge
As part of our recruitment for 2014, AURA mustered up 3 teams of newbies (students interested in AURA but who have not paid their subs) to battle with an AUT newbie team. Teams were given three 3-workshop sessions to design, build and program their robots to compete in the Vex game “Tic Tac Topple”. Each team was limited to one …
Kiwi Challenge scrimmage at Kristin School
The third Kiwi Challenge scrimmage was held at Kristin School on May 10. It was attended by 25 teams representing ten different schools and clubs. The eliminations were played by eight alliances of two teams. Once again the alliance of 7757Z (Kiwitech) and 2906A (Long Bay College) won the event, this time as the rank 1 alliance. The finalists were …
Kiwi Challenge scrimmage at Long Bay College
Saturday 3 May was the second scrimmage in the 2014 Auckland Kiwi Challenge season (Tic-Tac-Topple). The scrimmage was held in the auditorium at Long Bay College. 11 teams attended, representing Long Bay, Kiwitech, Onehunga High school, Free Range Robotics and St Cuthberts College. Four alliances of two teams each played in the eliminations. The winners were the rank #2 alliance …
Toss Up Worlds Viewing
With the Toss Up World Championships due to start, AURA migrated up north (slightly) for better viewing of the competition and unveiling. The whole weekend was a mix of good food, odd people and great entertainment – 3:30am tournament watching by morning, stand-up paddle boarding, Cards Against Humanity and Kung-Pow by evening. Here is a picture of a cute penguin. …
AURA featured in Craccum!
AURA was featured in Craccum, the University of Auckland Student Magazine. We talked about our club in general, and a bit more about the future of robotics and robotics ethics. Check it out here: http://craccum.ausa.auckland.ac.nz/?p=3085
NZ Nationals 2013
Another long weekend is over, with 55 teams from around New Zealand descending on TelstraClear Pacific Events Center to compete in the 5th Kiwibots New Zealand National Vex Robotics Championships between March 1-3. In one of the most competitive VEX regions in the world, teams fought for six qualification spots to the World Championships in Anaheim, California. The impact of …
Chairperson’s Report – 2012 AGM
Having existed for almost two years, AURA has built a strong reputation, both in our local community and internationally. A re-organisation of our operations late in 2011 helped us focus our efforts into three key areas: competition, mentoring, and research. On the competition front, our club has done extremely well – after continuing on from our successes as the Robotics …
FIRST Lego League (FLL) Nationals 2012
The FIRST Lego League national championship was held at ACG Strathallan in South Auckland recently, with twenty teams from around New Zealand competing in the three aspects of FIRST competitions. The first part of the competition is the ‘Team Project’. Each team identified a problem faced by senior citizens in daily life, and designed a product to help the seniors …
Head Referee’s Feedback from Asia-Pacific 2012
Hi everyone, I have put together a document of my impressions and observations of the Asia Pacific competition from a rules perspective. I thought it might be helpful to people to see what some common mistakes were, so that they can avoid them in other competitions. Link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/64849289/Asia%20Pacific%202012%20-%20Comments%20from%20Head%20Ref.pdf The rules are full of things you are not allowed to do, …