Team coach, Michelle Buckle said every year the competitors are faced with a brand-new robotics game with various tasks and challenges to perform to outscore the opposing teams.

“This season’s challenge is called ‘Into the Deep’ and teams score points by collecting rectangular blocks called ‘samples’ out of a ‘submersible’ and either placing them in baskets or by getting a clip attached to the sample before clipping them onto a high bar. Additional points are scored at the end of the match by getting their robots to ‘climb’ up two rungs of the submersible and hang entirely suspended on the top bar,” she said.

Buckle explained that in each match, the teams are randomly allocated an alliance partner, forming a temporary team for that specific match. These teams have to strategise how to make the most of their combined robot capabilities to win against the other two robots in the opposing alliance.

“For the first 30 seconds in the game, the robots are programmed to perform certain tasks autonomously - no human control allowed. Some of the techniques used in controlling the robots are technically advanced – for example, Texpand’s Into the Deep robot uses multiple sensors, odometry wheels and gyro sensors for exact field positioning; a camera with image processing to detect the exact location of the rectangular samples; plus, break beam sensors and touch sensors check for successful collection and transfer of the samples,” Buckle said.

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After a clean sweep at the regional competition in January, Texpand was the crowd favourites to take the top spot.

They faced competing teams from Cape Town, Gauteng, Gqeberha and Eswatini. Each team played six qualifying matches with randomly selected alliance partners. Texpand was unbeaten in all these matches.

The previous SA high score record was 218 set last year by Texpand and Creepy Crawlies in 2024. This year Texpand smashed that record in seven out of nine of their matches on setting the new bar at 318, scored with Alliance partners Hyperion Bots from Parklands College.

“The atmosphere at the venue was festive for the finals, with teams channelling their nervous energy into dancing and chanting while waiting in between matches. There were even a few impromptu performances from the MC, Tony Williams from UWC, and other spectators who were brave enough to appear on the stage to show off their human moves while waiting for the robots to get ready to show off their moves,” Buckle said.

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She said Texpand has used the team’s prominence and success on the global stage to create awareness of the huge need for funding robotics in South Africa and has raised funds to buy kits for nine teams who could not afford them. They have started and provided free mentorship to 11 new teams in the country, overcoming the challenge of the cost and shortage of experienced robotics coaches in the country. Three of the new teams they started qualified for the National Championship and two of those progressed to the final playoff matches in the championship.

The team will now be headed to Texas in the US later this year to face over 9,000 teams from across the world in the First Tech Challenge World Championships.

The coach said the team’s autonomous mode is causing a stir globally because it is truly pushing the limits of what most teams thought was impossible.

“Even though their robot is on par with some of the best robots in the world, they face a significant hurdle in preparing to compete in Houston: the cost of travel. The invitation to participate comes with no financial support from the competition, and so Texpand is responsible for raising the necessary funds to cover the entrance fee, accommodation, and flights to take their place in the competition in mid-April,” Buckle said.

The coach said the team is inviting any corporate companies and individuals to come on board and sponsor the team in order to invest in the future of technology education.

“It comes down to giving these bright young minds the platform they deserve to shine on the world stage and, more importantly, to continue their work in inspiring the next generation of innovators. So, if you would like to invest contact teamtexpand@gmail.com or visit their website www.texpand.org.za,” Buckle said.

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robin.francke@iol.co.za

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From Cape Town to Texas: Local robotics champions set for global showdown