Over the past few months, Barker Redbacks and Greybacks, Barker’s Senior School robotics teams, have been hard at work building their robots and competing in the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competitions held in Australia, Taiwan, and China.
Barker Redbacks, after a lot of well-played strategies against strong teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia managed to seed 1st and take home the win along with the Industrial Design Award at the Southern Cross Regional in Sydney.
This great achievement was made possible by the collective efforts of a team of about 20 students. Whether it was scouting from the stands or supporting the drive team, every member played an essential role in the three-day competition.
For many of the Year 10 students, this was their first experience at a FRC competition.
Meanwhile, on the same weekend, the Barker Greybacks were making their mark in the New Taipei City Regional. The competition was tough, and while a few matches didn’t go their way initially, the team kept up their determination. They climbed their way to 11th seed and were picked by the 3rd alliance to join forces in the playoffs. At the end, the Greybacks secured the title of champions in one of the team’s biggest comebacks ever.
After the incredible weekend, both teams quickly packed their robots into suitcases and flew to China for the Shanghai Regional.
In Shanghai, the challenges escalated. It was an intense experience, especially as many students were new on the team, but it was full of learning opportunities for everyone.
Despite the intense competition, the Redbacks ended as Competition Finalists and brought home the Imagery Award that celebrated attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.
“This is an exceptional team. Their robot features a modular design, ensuring quick repairs and component replacement. The integrated CNC aluminum alloy chassis guarantees both structural stability and lightweight efficiency,” said the judges when announcing the award for the Barker Redbacks.
Both the Barker Redbacks and Greybacks are preparing for the FRC World Championship, which takes place in April in Houston, USA. The entire team will embark on this exciting journey to represent Australia on the global stage.
To learn more about Barker’s robotics program, visit https://www.barker.college/.
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