Young SA robotics team takes world title
31 October 2024
News
In a demonstration of innovation and teamwork, Texpand, a South African youth robotics team based in Cape Town, recently made history by winning the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championships. The team’s success was assisted in part by high-tech polymer components donated by polymer supplier, igus, whose contribution played a valuable role in enabling the team to achieve world-class performance.
According to team director and mentor, Greg Buckle, the victory not only highlighted the potential of South Africa’s youth in the global robotics arena, but also showcased how the collaboration between industry and education can lead to extraordinary results. The FIRST Tech Challenge is a prestigious international robotics competition designed to ignite a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) among high school students. Teams of young school-going ‘engineers’ are tasked with building and programming robots to perform specific tasks in competitive matches, which are designed to mimic real-world engineering challenges. Each season, teams face a brand-new robotics game and are given about four months to design, build, and refine a robot to outscore their opponents.
A turning point for the team’s 2024 season came when igus, through their Young Engineer Support programme, donated various polymer components, including Drylin linear guides, telescopic rail slides and energy chains. These components proved pivotal in the team’s success.
For the upcoming 2025 season, the team has already received additional polymer components from igus and is hard at work designing new robotic prototypes. Team Texpand’s goal is to defend their title while simultaneously raising the level of competition in South Africa by mentoring and supporting other teams through a programme called IGNITE, an initiative aimed at expanding robotics education in South Africa.
Any companies wishing to offer sponsorship, assistance, or mentorship, to please contact Lynn Robinson at [email protected]
Further reading:
Webinar – How to develop intelligence edge IoT devices
News
Join Quectel’s expert-led webinar, with a speaker from Qualcomm Technologies, to learn more about how to plan, test and deploy successful IoT devices drawing on the unique advantages of intelligence at the edge.
Read more...
SAIMC training at AATF 2025
News
The SAIMC will deliver a powerful series of training sessions and technical workshops during AATF 2025, providing engineers, technologists, and technicians with the tools they need to professionally register, stay compliant, and lead industrial innovation.
Read more...
Webinar – Discover the ST BrightSense ecosystem
News
This webinar is for camera systems developers who need effective, ready-to-use solutions to keep pace with edge AI vision technologies and the rise of new applications spanning factory automation, robotics and drones, healthcare, traffic and security, sports and entertainment, and personal electronics.
Read more...
Altron celebrates 60th birthday with a call to rebuild Johannesburg
Altron Arrow
News
Altron is celebrating its 60th birthday by honouring Johannesburg’s heritage and encouraging business, government and civil society to come together and respond to our President’s call to rebuild Johannesburg.
Read more...
Electronic News Digest
News
A brief synopsis of current global news relating to the electronic engineering fields with regards to company finances, general company news, and engineering technologies.
Read more...
Jemstech to produce PCB assemblies for Kamstrup
Jemstech
News
Jemstech is pleased to announce that they have successfully concluded a supplier agreement with Kamstrup A/S in Denmark, a leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions in the global market.
Read more...
New appointments at Hiconnex
Hiconnex
News
Hiconnex, a leading provider of electronic components and solutions, has announced key appointments to support its continued growth and commitments to its clients.
Read more...
FoundriesFactory service more affordable for smaller OEMs
News
Foundries.io has announced a new, tiered pricing scheme which reduces the cost of its highly regarded FoundriesFactory service for OEMs in the development phase of a new edge AI or Linux OS-based product.
Read more...
DMASS 2024 results
News
The semiconductor business faced a severe downturn, with a 31,9% decrease compared to 2023 and a 30,3% drop in Q4 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Read more...
Using satellite comms to end copper theft
News
According to Transnet COO Solly Letsoalo, the scourge of copper theft could be a thing of the past by eliminating the use of copper cabling and switching to a satellite communication system.
Read more...
printer friendly version