Sheringham High School was the top performing British team at an international competition to design the best robot.

Sheringham High School was the top performing British team at an international competition to design the best robot.

A team of pupils travelled to Austria, along with their teachers, to take part in RobotChallenge in Vienna - one of the biggest competitions for self-made, autonomous and mobile robots in the world.

They entered robots named 'Jaffa Biscuits' and 'Cleminator II' in the Lego Line Follower and Lego Sumo categories; competitions in which intricate routes must be followed and battles fought against other robots in a sumo style battle-pit.

Sheringham headteacher Dr Andrew Richardson said: 'I'm deeply proud of the students.

'Not only did they achieve outstanding results against teams mainly made up of universities and adults, but they were perfect sportsmen. We are looking forward to 2017!'

The robots, programmed by the students to react independently to the challenges set by the contest directors, had been painstakingly constructed over the past three months with the help of a 'pit-crew' of fellow students at the School during their evening Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) club lessons.

Jaffa Biscuits, which was entered in the Lego Line Follower competition, boasted ultrasound sensors and a gearing system to help it negotiate the course. George Padolsey was the main driving force behind the complex computer programming. He was supported by Henry Mixer, Henry Keen, Benjamin Candlish, Cameron Richards and Joshua Turner.

Cleminator II, which competed in the Lego Sumo competition, boasted four motors instead of two, along with ultrasound and infrared sensors. It was constructed by William Hack, Ryan Marr and Finan Geoghegan-Philp.

After flying from Stanstead and arriving with some time for sightseeing, the pupils, accompanied by teachers Rob Hazelwood and Linda Melton, weighed up the opposition ready for qualifying at the Aula der Wissenschaften venue on Sunday morning.

And the team's robots achieved 22nd place out of 70 in the line-follower category and 50th out of 180 robots in the sumo battles, making them the top British entry.

'We have competed for the last two years,' said Mr Hazelwood, 'but our two robots this year were our best shot at the title so far and they didn't disappoint.

'Despite some teething problems, the quick-thinking and talented team made running changes which made all the difference.'