This term, one of our NES students has won at the prestigious Kuwait National Robotics Competition! The Print had the opportunity to interview Muhammed Al Ali from Year 12, to discover all about his experience of competing and winning first place in such a unique event.
- Could you please explain to our readers what this competition is all about?
“Certainly! The KNRC (Kuwait National Robotics Competition) is a yearly event where teams get a chance to play against each other in whatever game VEX Robotics are running for the season, with this year’s being High Stakes. In High Stakes, teams try to collect colored bagels and stack them on mobile goals and stakes (hence the pun). There’s quite a bit of depth beyond that as well. For example, depending on where you place the goals, you can either double the value of the rings scored, or even take points away from the enemy team. There’s also a ladder in the middle that robots can climb for more points.”
- What robot did your team produce, and why do you believe you gained an advantage over other teams to win?
“Our team used a design called the Bark Bot, with the main feature of it being the scoring mechanism, which was basically a treadmill with hooks to hold the rings. By using a piston on the back, we were able to get the robot to “grab” the mobile goal’s base into just the right position to auto-score the ring. Most of the other teams opted for something called a Hero Bot (a robot design suggested by VEX), this year’s being dubbed the “Axelbot”. The glaring issue with that design is the consistency and speed though. It takes forever to get a ring, and even then, it often misses the stake.”
- Were there any trying/testing moments throughout the competition?
“Oh my goodness, absolutely! There was this one school with a bot that absolutely horrified us. It had a mechanism called the Lady Brown, which is able to score onto wall stakes. Keep in mind, none of the teams had any way to descore rings from wall stakes. They were fierce competitors, and they made sure we couldn’t just rest on our laurels during the qualifiers. Funnily enough, they actually knew about our team before the competition, and wanted to team up with us once we got into the tournament matches. If they weren’t our teammates, we definitely would’ve had a much harder time during the finals!”
- What do you believe your team learned throughout the competition?
“Hard work pays off. I still remember being absolutely awestruck when we found out we won three awards. Holding our engineering notebook, knowing that my research papers went into that. The best part of making anything is knowing you made it; the second best part is getting recognized for it. We also learned to never take success for granted. Both of our finals matches had scores so close that they necessitated recounts from the judges. The anticipation was unbearable. I honestly didn’t expect us to win the second round, but once the final score was announced (apologies for the pun) it was electrifying.”
- What is next now that you have won first place?
“Well for the team as a whole – Dallas! We will be heading to the next level of competition there. We’re also going to be constantly updating our bot and strategies as the event approaches, keeping up with the meta (most effective tactic available) as best as we can. On my end, I’ve got some exciting things cooking up with the school’s Future Tech Wizards club. On April 8th, we’re going to release the video game we’ve been working on throughout the year. I won’t spoil too much, but if anybody reading is a fan of puzzle-platformers, you might want to keep an eye out!”
The Print wishes Muhammed Al Ali and his team the best of luck as they head forward to compete in robotics internationally!
