The island’s first national robotics championship has been held at The Forum, Mount Havelock in Douglas.
Organised by the Isle of Man Code Club, it involved competitors building robots with Lego Mindstorms, which are a series of kits containing software and hardware to create customizable, programmable robots.
The robots then had to push each other out of a ring in a robotics sumo-style contest.
The contest was announced in October and was open to all students in the Isle of Man.
A number of students expressed interest and had been meeting every Saturday at Code Club to work on and perfect their robots.
As well as building their robot each competitor had to program it with tactics to use during its fight.
Five contestants made it to the championship final, with Hollie Hazell, aged nine, winning with her robot named ‘IDK’.
Sponsors of the competition, Bluewave Communications Limited provided the winner’s prize of a four-wheel drive robotic car which can be controlled over Wifi or mobile data.
Ryan Gilmour, director of Bluewave Communications Limited said: ‘It was a pleasure for us to supply a prize for this contest. This type of contest is a great way to encourage students of all ages to get interested in technology and we are proud to be part of it.’
Owen Cutajar, founder of Code Club added: ‘It’s fantastic to see the energy and intellect that these students have poured into their projects.
‘It wasn’t an easy challenge and Hollie did a magnificent job in beating all the others.
‘We hope to be able to run this again next year to give more contestants an opportunity to take part.’
Code Club has regular meetings and has recently moved to Barrule House at Ronaldsway Estate. Visit www.codeclub.im for more details.