Robotics - Carmel School Association

Our robotics programme forms part of the greater STEAM programme, the purpose of which is to develop interests and abilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Offering a dedicated STEAM space as well as a fully equipped robotics lab, Carmel School is leading the way in providing students the opportunities and resources to succeed.

Robotics News

The Robotics Programme

Our Junior Robotics programme aims to develop skills in preparation for the FIRST Lego League. Carmel School is the first, and until very recently, the only school from Hong Kong that participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Carmel's Robotics team, officially known as team Prism 7242, will be competing in its third competition in 2020.

Students engage in specialised training in engineering, coding and programming, to develop the complex, advanced skills and knowledge required to participate in these programmes. We work with the staff from Hong Kong's Makerbay, as well as BSD Academy. Along with many technical positions, there are many opportunities to contribute to the team without a technical background, including marketing and fundraising.

FRC9421 is the Carmel School Senior Robotics team, a Elsa High School student-led group of passionate and determined engineers, coders and developers. Our team is the only school team from Hong Kong to participate in a FIRST Robotics competition.

This programme gives students the opportunity to engage in specialized engineering and programming training, developing advanced skills and knowledge in those fields. Impact studies show that with one year of FIRST participation, Carmel School students are three times more likely to have positive outcomes in STEAM subjects compared to those who did not participate.

Our History

Carmel School's first competition was in Shanghai, China. The competition was challenging but we proved to ourselves that even with relatively less experience, resources and space to build, we could compete against the larger teams. In New York, we ended up missing the finals by one position and finished in 19th out of 40. This was a massive achievement for us and solidified our potential as a team.

Our team has seen tremendous growth from a group of two teachers with 10 students to a crew of over 20 students under the guidance of teachers and mentors with expertise in the field of engineering, coding, and marketing.

Competitions

FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international youth organization that operates the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO League, FIRST LEGO League Jr., FIRST LEGO League Jr. Discovery Edition, and FIRST Tech Challenge competitions. Founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989, its expressed goal is to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields. As of 2019, over 3,700 high school teams totaling over 46,000 students from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Turkey, Mexico, and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and mainland China, and more compete in the annual competition, with more than 7500 teams.

The first and highest-scale programme developed through FIRST is the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which is designed to provide real-world experience and inspire students to become engineers. Teams are issued with a kit containing a base set of parts. The competition challenge changes each year, and the teams can only reuse some components from previous years. The robots weigh at most 125 pounds (56.7 kg), without batteries and bumpers. Teams are given six weeks to construct a robot that can accomplish the game's tasks.

The vision is to have a programme beginning in Elementary school and extending all the way through to our FRC programme