DSHS sports two teams to Land Rover Challenge

Sometimes it’s great to be on top of the world, it gives validation for all your hard work. But to keep that up for multiple years is remarkable in any arena is hard to do. But Dripping Springs’ high school robotics class has achieved that and more.

Last year they traveled to Abu Dhabi for the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology 

Championship. This year the event will be held in England and the excitement is there as they will travel there.

“More than 150 talented future engineers from schools in 20 countries will meet in the West Midlands for the Land Rover 4x4 in Schools Technology Challenge world finals,” according to the official website.

The challenge “requires students to build a radio-controlled four-wheel drive (4x4) vehicle to the specifications (height, weight, length, etc.) provided by the International Rules Committee. It must successfully navigate and complete obstacles on an off-road test track… The vehicle must emulate the capabilities of a full size 4x4 vehicle,” according to the challenge website. 

This is technology at its finest on a high school level. The remote-control vehicle has to pass over and through an obstacle course. Each of the different systems has to work seamlessly with the other to combat what is thrown at the vehicle. 

First the entrants have to start a portfolio containing all the engineering documents, a marketing plan, among other data such as the design documents that are kept for contest judging.

The car is designed and tested using computer software. It is then transferred to the real world and made, and flaws and defects have to be corrected. Mated with the systems, each part of the software must do its function. 

The high school team impressed the organization last year, as DSHS will have two distinctive teams of representatives. “We got a second team of total rookies and they were selected as a Wild Card to represent the U.S..” Robotics teacher/ Advisor/ Mentor Jad Jadeja said

April 12 through the 17 is when it will happen. “We’ll be leaving a day or two early, for registration and compliance , or if there are any other problems like the car or fixing issues,” Jadeja said. There will be a tune up for the World Championship at the Circuit of the Americas on February 21.

Jadeja’s classes are an amalgam of differently talented students, each with their own skills, working towards a common goal, whether it be expertise at software, engineering, or marketing, each student arrives to class and is engaged with and sits with their group, fixing their unique problems. 

“This year we started from scratch, we went back to the beginning. We had a bigger focus on programing, suspension and telemetry,” Jason Fitzpatrick, the manager of the group said. The group is using an active suspension system and should go over obstacles easier. 

”When it comes to parallel parking, you press a button and it parks itself…telemetry includes battery life, GPS position and even the temperature of any statistic you can think of …we learned something from last year,” Fitzpatrick said. 

Of course with travel comes expenses and the undertaking will cost. The Engineering Booster Club is trying to raise funds for the travel to England. They are a non-profit 501c 3 organization. Checks for the expenses should be mailed to

Dripping Springs Engineering Boosters. 

PO Box 241, 

Dripping Springs, TX 78620. 

Please note in memo "4x4 teams"

Any questions: email- [email protected]