Limerick pupils battle with robots at Analog Devices competition

ROBOTS clashed and creativity soared as more than 100 primary school students from across Munster competed in the tenth annual Analog Devices Primary Schools Robotics Competition in Limerick.

Killoughteen National School from Newcastle West emerged as the 2025 champions following a high-energy day of building, programming, and battling custom-designed sumo robots at the Analog Devices campus in Raheen.

Following two days of exciting semi-finals on March 20 and 21, which saw participation from 280 students from 80 primary schools across Munster, the top 32 schools advanced to the grand finale. The selected schools included 19 from Limerick, six from Clare, five from Tipperary, and two from north Cork.

Teams comprising 5th and 6th class students from these schools gathered early on Saturday, April 5 to construct and program their robotic creations. Each team collected points for teamwork, design, and innovation as well as creativity in the poster showcase.

READ MORE: PICTURES: St Vincent de Paul Mid-West Young SVP Youth Day

The afternoon saw the culmination of their efforts as the robots entered the ring for a sumo-style showdown. Parents, teachers, and friends cheered on the children during the competitive finale, where additional points were awarded for wins and draws in both the pool stages and throughout the knockouts.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the competition and for the first time, the programme has expanded beyond Limerick, welcoming schools from across Munster to engage in the popular hands-on STEM learning and friendly competition.

The competition kicked off in January, with participating schools receiving complimentary robotics workshops, where teamwork, and a passion for STEM were encouraged.

Fiona Treacy, managing director, Industrial Automation at Analog Devices, announced the winners, saying: “Analog Devices is delighted with how our Primary School Robotics Competition has evolved as we continue to champion STEM education. With 2,240 students from across Munster taking part this year, it has been incredible to witness their enthusiasm, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork”.

In the lead-up to competition day, Analog Devices partnered with LearnIt to deliver complimentary robotics workshops to all registered primary schools. Over the past ten years, Analog Devices has enabled nearly 9,000 students to participate in these workshops, where they learn to build and program a robot using LEGO.