Dhupuma Barker School Djirikitj Firebirds succeed at world robotics championships
A team of East Arnhem students have impressed the world with their robotics skills, and have big plans to take their craft further.
Northern Territory
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A team of students from East Arnhem Land are climbing the ranks of the world’s best and brightest robotics engineers.
The Dhupuma Barker School Djirikitj Firebirds placed 40 in their division of 80 schools at the 2023 VEX Robotics World Championships in Texas.
Head of Barker College Sydney Phillip Heath – who stood proudly alongside the team at the competition – said the Djirikitj Firebirds’ scores placed them in the top half of the world teams’ performance bands despite having engaged in robotics for just a few months.
“The intention of offering robotics at Dhupuma was to provide an extra incentive for kids to enjoy coming to school,” he said.
“They were up against robotics academies from around the world who build numerous robots and compete against each other all the time.
“Our kids only had a handful of hours of preparation.”
Mr Heath said the Djirikitj Firebirds were evidence kids in remote Australia could “do just as well as anyone else”.
“Give people opportunities, stand back in wonder when they take them,” he said.
“The challenge in Australia is to make sure that remote and regional and rural kids have opportunities, and robotics remarkably bridges gaps.”
Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said the Gunyangara community played a holistic part of the team’s development, and she herself felt “quite emotional” having watched the students grow.
“Our youth have left the comfort of the their community surrounds with high expectations, they’ve been up for a challenge and undaunted to mix it with the best robotics brains globally, they’ve understood how to travel internationally, and therefore have a real grasp of ‘otherworldly’ learnings,” she said.
“This trip has been one of a lifetime, and we never would have realised our little school two years ago would have ended up in this position.
Ms Bowden said the Djirikitj Firebirds’ success had opened up several opportunities.
“We’ll not only continue to encourage our students along further, but we’re likely to introduce further matters into the Gunyangara classroom from here on,” she said.
“Our goal? A Yolngu rocket launcher is a realistic dream that our community is keen for.”
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Originally published as Dhupuma Barker School Djirikitj Firebirds succeed at world robotics championships
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