Saturday 1 December saw the first ever New Zealand VEX Robotics College Competition event held outside of Nationals. With students attending from University of Auckland, Massey University (Albany and Palmerston North Campuses), Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Manakau Institute of Technology (MIT), and University of Canterbury (UC), it was easily the largest college event held in the country. Unfortunately, there …
RoboNZ Nov 2012
The AURA Electronics Research Team (ERT) competed in their first RoboNZ competition at the offices of NextWindow Ltd. today on Saturday 24 of November 2012. This competition is a continuation of our expansion of our competitive focus, having also competed at the National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition. A reasonably small competition with some very dedicated competitors, it focuses on desiging …
Big Boys Toys Scrimmage(s)
VEX Robotics made an appearance in the public eye last weekend, with a competition held at the ASB Showgrounds in conjunction with the ‘Big Boys Toys’ Expo. On Saturday the tenth, twenty-three teams competed in seven matches each, all vying for a place in the elimination rounds. AURA-mentored team 2950A, from St Cuthbert’s college, ranked first after qualification rounds as …
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Pilot
Last week AURA ventured into new territory, as the New Zealand FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) pilot competition was held in Papakura. Being organised by the same group who run FIRST Lego League, AURA were enthusiastically invited to be judges and referees at the event alongside the Kiwi FIRST volunteers. The FTC competition is based on the ethos of the FIRST …
August Sack Attack Scrimmage
It was Sack Attack time again in Auckland today as teams gathered at Onehunga High School for the monthly scrimmage. Having already had two Sack Attack scrimmages, teams now have a little more experience with the game and today was another opportunity to further test changes made to robot design and strategy. Over the 56 matches during the day, a …
AURA Quiz Night Fundraiser
With our growing team membership and the large number of high schools involved in our mentoring programme, AURA held a Quiz Night Fundraiser to assist in purchasing new materials, allowing us to continue with our workshops and volunteer work. Over 50 participants turned up to the University of Auckland Engineering building on a cold and rainy evening, forming teams and …
July Sack Attack Scrimmage
The New Zealand Sack Attack season continued this weekend with the second Auckland scrimmage, hosted by Glenfield College. Teams had one month since the season opener, and it was a chance to test changes to their designs under the rigor of competition. Improvements in design had a noticeable impact on general game play and strategy from teams, as teams became …
Rookie Workshops
As school holidays began for high school students in New Zealand, AURA took the opportunity to host two “rookie workshops” in conjunction with the Kiwibots for students who are new to VEX Robotics. On each of Monday the 2nd and Tuesday the 3rd of June, we held two sets of educational workshops – mechanical and programming. 24 students attended the …
June 2012 – FIRST Lego League (FLL)
Over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of June, AURA team members volunteered at a FIRST Lego League (FLL) event held at ACG Strathallan in Papakura. FLL is a competition run for students ages nine to sixteen, and is a completely autonomous competition. Lego “Mindstorms” robots, built and programmed by the students, try to complete as many “missions” as …
Workshop Information at University of Auckland
The workshops are being run at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Auckland. The address is 20 Symonds Street, Auckland Central. Students can be dropped off on Grafton Road. Parking is found under the Business School, also on Grafton Road. Alternatively, there are lots of public transport options, including trains into Britomart and a number of buses which …