UK Manufacturing Festivals has launched a new initiative designed to inspire students and ignite their passion for manufacturing and engineering within the Midlands.
Speaking on the Manufacturing Uncensored podcast on National Manufacturing Day, UKMF Founder Angela Lawlor laid out the details of a special new robot competition aimed at schools who attend the West Midlands and Shropshire & Telford festivals, in conjunction with KUKA.
UKMF is aiming to send each school a standard robot kit, which they will be allowed to modify and upgrade as they see fit, to best adapt it to complete a specially designed obstacle course.
The rules are simple – the robots must be fully autonomous, and must complete the course – although the students can decide on which route their robot should take.
UK Manufacturing Festivals is appealing to manufacturing businesses to get involved, with sponsorships that will allow them to provide every school with a robot kit.
UKMF Angela Lawlor told us: “Our hope is that the robot competition will spark student’s interest in the manufacturing sector, which they can then develop into a rewarding career. We’re currently looking for businesses to help us bring the competition to as many schools as possible, to make sure that every student has the opportunity to compete.”
The competition will take place at Smart Manufacturing Week 2027 at the NEC, where winners will be decided by a panel of expert judges, and prizes will be awarded for a variety of categories, including the robot that completes the course fastest.
Businesses interested in sponsorship can email [email protected]
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