Barker's Robotics program continues to go from strength-to-strength demonstrating that Robotics is so much more than 'just the robot'.

Robotics at Barker

Barker Robotics provides a rounded educational experience, equipping students with skills that few other high school programs can offer. Teaching communication, teamwork, leadership and initiative, whilst having fun and pursuing their passion whether technical, business or artistic. Students are taken through an engineering process that involves designing, prototyping, constructing and testing their robot so that it can complete the tasks required to be a competitive player.

Barker has adopted a whole-school approach to its Robotics program with students able to participate in Robotics from Year 3. A dedicated Robotics Centre has been created for students to work together in a team-oriented environment. Through a rewarding and enriching program, we aim to maximise the creative and intelligent capacity of the students, challenging them to grow their skills and confidence to achieve feats they never thought possible.

Barker's Robotics program has attracted a lot of attention globally. In 2019, Barker assisted with the creation of the first FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team in the African Continent - Team 7523 - the Springbots, from public school students in Gauteng South Africa. We also hosted over 200 students from international teams post-regional at the Barker Robotics Lab for a meet and greet. Our students continue to mentor Chinese teams in robot design and construction.

Barker College hosts the annual VEX Robotics Competition and VEX IQ Challenge Scrimmage and Tournaments, which have almost tripled in size since their inauguration in 2018. Barker VEX IQ and VEX Robotics Competition teams have qualified to the VEX Australia Nationals every year since 2018. In 2021, Barker qualified 3 teams to VEX Worlds for the first time.

Teams 4613E Trainwreck and 4613W Hypershere qualified to VEX Worlds in the High School and Middle School Divisions respectively, an impressive result with under ten teams qualifying from Australia each year . Team Trainwreck made it through to the quarter finals in their division, an impressive result. Team HyperSphere managed an incredible performance, winning their Technology B subdivision, and then going on to Win the Technology Division, placing third overall at VEX Worlds.

No previous skills are required to join the program - just curiosity, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Training, support and guidance are provided by Barker technical staff, teachers and industry mentors.

Travel Opportunities

All FRC team members are expected to participate in the local Regionals in Sydney, Australia. If students wish to, there is usually an opportunity to participate in an International Regional each year, frequently in the first week of April. The Redbacks have also been fortunate in previous years to be invited to attend the Robotics Competition China, hosted at various cities around China, normally in August each year. Available positions for tours may be limited, and be offered to team members at the discretion of the Robotics Co-ordinator based on participation and effectiveness on the team.

All VEX Robotics Competition students participate at Tournaments held each year and may earn the opportunity to travel to Nationals held in a different capital city within Australia each year if they qualify from a tournament.

Click the links below to view Barker Redbacks Robot Reveals:

2020 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om-kJ0Fn-qc 
2019 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDRk5KeEqkg 
2018 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFiySP0L6o4 
2017 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1twnsPU_hms 

View Barker Redbacks 4613 Chairman’s 2021 - Presentation Video

Our Awards

Since 2013, Barker has been involved in the FIRST Robotics Competition, pitching our students against the finest in the USA as well as various countries around the world.

In the annual competitions hosted by Houston, Texas, over the years the Barker Redbacks Team have won the FRC Chairman’s Award in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In addition, we have consistently won Asia-Pacific Regional Robotics Competitions and hold a top ten world rank in our Robotics program.

Just as significant is the reason for the FRC Chairman’s Award – the Barker approach is to foster excellence for other teams, not just for ourselves. Deep in the philosophy of Robotics is to share ideas and encourage the development of Robotics in other schools and communities, especially those who are disadvantaged. Robotics programs now exist in other countries because of the support of the Barker Redbacks.

In recognition of this contribution and of the excellence of the Barker Redbacks ingenuity in its own right, the FRC has admitted us to their Hall of Fame.

These students are making a contribution beyond the Mint Gates and are the first and only Australian school to achieve this recognition. The creativity, determination, ingenuity and skills these young students demonstrate each year is commendable as they continue to build ever more sophisticated and impressive robots, whilst sharing their knowledge and understanding with teams around the globe. READ MORE ABOUT THE JOURNEY TO THE HALL OF FAME.