Six teenagers from Girona will compete in Robotics World Championship in US

Six teenagers based in Girona, in the north of Catalonia, will represent Spain in the Vex Robotics World Championship 2024 competition, the world's biggest robotics competition, in the United States from April 25 to 26.

The Purple Lions team will be participating in the world championship for the third time.

"These are excellent students, not just academically, but as a group," Dani Martín, director at Innova't Educació and group mentor, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

"How do they achieve getting there? By really working a lot. They have been working for over 400 hours developing the robot," he added.

"The team has a lot of experience and this gives them the opportunity to go to the world championship with more ambition," Martín said.

Their goal is to reach the finals in their category, but Purple Lions know that being there gives them "a lot of experience" as "the best teams in the world take part, and once the championship is over, they share the robot designs."

An improved robot

The robot that will compete is an upgraded version of the one they used to win the Spainish championship and is designed to score goals by throwing triangle pieces, but also defend its own goal, step over a bar, or hang from another bar.

The version that will compete in Dallas, Texas, is "completely new, made based on improvements that we have been making to the first robot," the team says.

It features two wings to try to stop opponents, and wheels, allowing the robot to move via remote control or autonomously.

Girona, Andorra, and Spain

The 15 to 17-year-old high school students earned the right to compete in Dallas after winning the Spanish robotics championship in February.

Arnau Lladó, Paula Pibernat, Mireia Fontarosa, Lucas Vazques, Martí Garcia, and Mer Ramírez will travel to the US after already achieving "a lot of our goals," Lladó said.

Among the awards, the six teenagers from Girona won the excellence and skills awards in Andorra's international competition, as well as winning overall. They won the same three prizes in the Spanish competition.

In the Girona tournament, the team left with the excellence award and as competition winners.