From December 11 to 13, 2024, 40 students from higher technical colleges (HTL) in Andorf, Braunau, Grieskirchen and Ried tackled a mechatronics challenge in two and a half days in interdisciplinary teams. The task: “equipping a highly innovative industrial robot with a specially designed and 3D-printed gripper and programming the robot”. The teams worked with state-of-the-art industrial robots from Universal Robots, which had to be programmed manually. The talented youngsters were challenged to come up with creative, and often unconventional, approaches while also demonstrating perfect interdisciplinary teamwork within the individual groups. On December 13, the outstanding results of the 3rd Fill Hackathon were presented to the jury and fellow classmates at the Fill Future Dome in Gurten. The winning team, ‘Robo-Rangers’, received enthusiastic applause and were delighted to receive a Weberzeilen voucher to the value of 1,600 euros.
Gurten, 17 December 2024 – “The third edition of our Fill Hackathon has once again impressively demonstrated just how much potential our young talents have. The passion and enthusiasm for the event were palpable among all participants,” commented a delighted Alois Wiesinger, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at Fill Machine Engineering. He added: “What makes our Fill Hackathon so special is that the students don’t employ toy robots to solve tasks; instead, they gain valuable experience with state-of-the-art industrial robots.”
Team spirit
The interdisciplinary challenge, involving several technical colleges, simulated the demands faced by the development departments of international enterprises with a highly practical focus. Particular emphasis was placed on teamwork. The complex task of equipping a highly innovative industrial robot with a specially designed and 3D-printed gripper, as well as programming the robot, could only be mastered by working together as a team. At the final presentation in the Future Dome, the jury used a specially created user interface to issue commands to the robot, testing its ability to correctly recognize and position 3D-printed Tetris bricks. Cooperating with other students, learning from each other, and successfully implementing a project together under time pressure, were challenges that all participating teams accomplished with great dedication.
And the winner is…
The projects and solutions developed were showcased on December 13 in the Fill Future Dome in front of around 230 classmates, teachers and coaches from the individual groups. Cheered on enthusiastically by their classmates, the participants also gave outstanding performances during their presentations. Team 4, the ‘Robo-Rangers’, was crowned the winner and received a shopping voucher worth 1,600 euros. “The Hackathon at Fill was a great experience. It gave us a real sense of what working life is like. We learned a lot while having a lot of fun,” said one participant, summing up the atmosphere among the young talented students during the final presentation.
Corporate data
Fill is a globally leading machine engineering company headquartered in Gurten, Upper Austria. With its sophisticated high-tech systems and customized solutions for manufacturing industries in the metal, plastics and wood sectors, Fill makes its customers the best in their industry. The automotive, aviation, sports and construction industries all benefit from Fill’s expertise. Since its foundation in 1966, the company has stood out for its tremendous innovative strength, value orientation and outstanding jobs. “If you are seeking the best solution, shape your future together with Fill” is the guiding principle of the more than 1,000 employees. “We are one!” is their vision and stands for a sense of community within the team as well as with customers, suppliers and partners. The company is 100% family-owned and led by Andreas Fill (CEO), Martin Reiter (CFO), Alois Wiesinger (CTO) and Günter Redhammer (COO). In 2023, Fill generated a turnover of approximately 210 million euros.
Further information available at: www.fill.co.at
