Greenville, TX – April 18, 2016 – VEX Worlds 2016 kicks off this week! Presented by the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation, this culminating event brings together the top 1,000 teams from around the world in one city and under one roof for one incredible celebration of robotics engineering, featuring the world’s largest and fastest growing international robotics programs – the VEX IQ Challenge, the VEX Robotics Competition and VEX U.
On April 20-23, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., over 16,000 participants from 37 nations will come together to put their engineering expertise to the test as they seek to be crowned the Champions of VEX Worlds.Annually, the REC Foundation presents a series of robotics engineering programs that engage students from elementary school through college in classrooms and at after-school competitions around the world in hands-on technology challenges that build their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Students around the globe have spent countless hours designing, building, programming and competing at more than 1,350 local, state, and regional competition events. Of the 16,000 VEX teams, the best 1,000 teams qualified to advance to Louisville, Kentucky to strategize and challenge each other playing the current 2015-2016 season games: VEX IQ Challenge Bank Shot and VEX Robotics Competition Nothing But Net.
“It’s thrilling to see students from around the world ranging from elementary school through college gathered in one city and at one venue to celebrate their accomplishments and compete with their student-engineered robots,” said Jason Morrella, president of the REC Foundation.
“These VEX programs continue to grow at an amazing rate, demonstrating our ability to provide students with a hands-on robotics engineering experience that is both challenging and sustainable to foster their interest in STEM and set them on a course to become our future problem-solvers and visionaries.”
At the close of VEX Worlds 2016 on Saturday, April 23, teams will be invited to Kentucky Kingdom, a stunning amusement park just steps from the venue, for a private party featuring new rides, themed attractions, and plenty of dining options!
VEX Worlds is FREE and open to the public with fun activities for the whole family! Spectators are welcome and encouraged to watch matches, attend ceremonies, and visit with teams in the pit area as they strategize and prepare their robots for competition.
Sponsors of VEX Worlds 2016 include the Northrop Grumman Foundation, Autodesk, Chevron, EMC Corporation, Harris Corporation, NASA, Texas Instruments, HEXBUG, Rack Solutions and Innovation First International.
Fans can follow the competition and sign up for real-time competition news and results via live webcasts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube updates. Real time tournament results are also available through “VEX via” - an iPhone and Android compatible app, which provides match schedules, rankings and scores. For more information visit RoboticsEducation.org/VEXworlds.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work. For more information, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org or for details on upcoming events, please visit www.RobotEvents.com.
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Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from over 35 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
The REC Foundation recently caught up with Rolling Robots, 7700B, from Rolling Hills Estate, California, who were the VEX Robotics Competition Excellence Award winners at VEX Worlds 2015.
The team explains how they strategized this year's game, Nothing But Net, by collecting the bonus balls and launching them in the beginning and in the last 15 seconds of each match and also sought to launch all of their preloads. The season wasn't without its fair share of challenges, especially difficult for the group, and no doubt familiar to other teams as well, was designing an accurate long-range launcher.
Highlights of the Season
Rolling Robots explain that the best experience for the team this year was when they finally got their long range shooting mechanism working properly and scored over 200 points in programming skills! The team is most proud of their robot this year with it's ability to work fast and execute accurate long shots.
Team Strategy & Future
The team embraces the idea of engaging all their members in the workload and seeks to divide tasks equally so that the they can all share in the designing, building, and programming of their robot while still have time for other activities too. In the future, many of the Rolling Robots hope to study and pursue careers in the STEM fields.
The team qualified for VEX Worlds when they received the Excellence Award for VEX Robotics Competition Middle School at VEX Worlds 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from over 35 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
The REC Foundation recently caught up with The Gear Turners, Geniuses, and STEMgineers; Teams 10660 B, G, and E, from Centerra Mirage STEM Academy in Goodyear, Arizona. The teams include Sage, Nathaniel, Serenity, Hai, Ayla, Michael, and their coach Corey McCoy.
Team Strategy
The teams all approach the game in a similar manner, with a focus on going after the balls on the ramp first and then picking up balls to shoot. They've also found it valuable to talk to their Alliance Partners in advance of a match to develop a game plan.
These teams have seen their fair share of challenges this season with equipment failures, incorrect measurements for programming, and even rebuilding a robot in 15 minutes after one fell apart! The highlight of their season though was qualifying for VEX Worlds, where they look forward to meeting competitors from around the world and seeing all of the different robot designs.
Unique Robot Builds
The robots the teams came up with have special shooters and bases, which enable them to to pick up a lot of balls and therefore score a lot of points. The most unique touch though was putting their initials on their bots!
Future in STEM
The team members all share a passion for STEM and in particular a focus on future careers in engineering or math that they attribute to their robotics experience. Some of the team members also hope to be future inventors - no doubt they will too with the path they've already set on!
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from over 35 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
We recently spoke to the captain of Team 9090C, Tiger, a senior at Carroll High School, in Southlake, Texas. Tiger is a T-VEX robotics club founding member, and has been a VEX participant for seven seasons. His team was a part of the high school World Championship alliance at VEX Worlds 2015 and is a two-time Programming Skills World Champion.
In this interview we discuss what got him started in robotics, the challenges that he and his team have overcome, and his favorite moments as a VEX participant.
REC FOUNDATION: How did you get involved in robotics?
TIGER: When I was in sixth grade a friend from the Chinese writing and reading class I was taking on Sundays wanted to start a team. I always liked playing with remote control toys and thought it’d be quite similar. I got distracted easily when I first started, but we actually managed to win our first tournament less than three months later, and that really caught my attention.
REC FOUNDATION: What is your role on the team?
TIGER: I’m team captain on 9090C, and since this is my last year we actually decided to put most of the rookies on my team so I could teach them what I’ve learned over 7 seasons of VEX. Before that I typically stuck to hardware and strategy, determining a strategy and then designing a robot around it. Last year I helped start a new robotics team at my high school (Southlake Carroll), starting with two teams with 15 people. I introduced them to different types of robots and mechanisms as well as the VEX system, acting as a sort of student mentor.
REC FOUNDATION: What were some of your biggest challenges this year?
TIGER: After six seasons in the VRC, it is finally my senior year and my last. I’ve had quite a successful couple of years, especially the last two, where our club twice became the Programming Skills World Champion and also the high school World Champion. Since this is my last season, I feel driven to make the most of this last chance and advance even further on the world stage. At the same time, team members I’ve had around me for years have all graduated, leaving only rookies and a few experienced people on the other team. The Carroll team has expanded to 6 teams and 45 people this year. My greatest challenge is to balance my desire to end on the highest note possible with the need to pass on as much of my experiences and ensure that both programs remain strong after my departure.
REC FOUNDATION: What qualities make your team special?
TIGER: The best part about T-VEX has always been the diversity of ages throughout the club. I started out as a sixth grader, with team members ranging from one year to three years older than I was. I believe this helps the club grow faster since the older members can teach the younger ones and there is more continuity as members get the opportunity to compete.
REC FOUNDATION: What is an important lesson you’ve learned from being part of a robotics team?
TIGER: I’ve learned that teaching and explaining yourself to others really helps you improve. Several times new people have asked questions that helped show me a new perspective on an idea. VEX has also taught me how important it is that you are fully capable in explaining yourself and your ideas to other people. You could have the best design in the world or the best robot in the world, but if you can’t convince anyone else that this is the case, you might as well have nothing.
REC FOUNDATION: What are some of your favorite moments so far in your robotics experience?
TIGER: Two moments come to mind here: One—the first time we managed to get our robot driving my very first year. Up until that point I had not really created anything, this was the first time that I had helped make something, and it now could move and score. Two—More than six years afterwards, we became the 2015 High School World Champion. It was a particularly poignant moment for me since I was there throughout the process of building the team up to that moment.
REC FOUNDATION: How has your involvement with robotics influenced your career path?
TIGER: Six years ago I would’ve answered that I’d probably be a doctor, because it seemed like it’d be a good idea. However, my involvement in robotics has shown me just how much I like designing, building, and iterating machines to solve issues. This, along with biology classes and several hospital and research internships, has made me decide to study electrical and biomedical engineering.
For more on team 9090C, visit their team website.
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from over 35 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
This week the REC Foundation caught up with the Scorpions, Team 6196A, from Durango, Durango, Mexico who shared with us the highs and lows of the season along with some really great photos. The Scorpions include Fernando, Paola, José, Ricardo, and their coach Julian Rosales.
The Scorpions strived all season to create a robot that could do everything required to
compete in Nothing But Net this year. They ran into some challenges with motors and ended up modifying one robot the day before a tournament because it had stopped working. However, they carried on and through their perseverance and hard work they actually won the national competition, which positioned them as one of the best middle school teams in Mexico.
At VEX Worlds, they look forward to seeing robots from around the world and look forward to meeting Jason Morrella, President of the REC Foundation, because they value the work he's done to make the VEX Robotics Competition the amazing experience it is today.
In fact, for this team, their involvement in VEX Robotics has helped each of them give a lot of thought to what they would like to do in life and Fernando, Ricardo and Jose all hope to study mechatronics while Paola looks forward to a future in software programming and design.
The team qualified for VEX Worlds when they were crowned Tournament Champions at the National Competition in Aguascalientes, Mexico. To learn more about the Scorpions, visit them on Facebook or YouTube and be sure to visit them at VEX Worlds!
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from nearly 30 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
The RoboCrafters, team 10016S, from Leesburg, Florida, is a team of elementary school brothers, Logan and Lucas, who shared their interest in VEX IQ, Minecraft, and more as they make their second trip to VEX Worlds!
Their strategy this season for Bank Shot has been pretty straight-forward. Specifically, they gather as many balls as they can and dump them into the bucket with their "scoop arm". They make at least two trips and then park on the bottom of the ramp.
When asked about the most unique aspect of their robot, they told us: "It's green! We started last year with an all green robot and wanted to do the same thing this year. It's called the creeper, like in Minecraft."
The fact that they are brothers has made for a lot of flexibility with their schedule and they often meet for a couple of hours a week to work on their robot. Logan and Lucas admit they have faced a few challenges along the way with both the game and each other. They struggled to find the best strategy to collect the balls as they roll in all directions on the field and also worked on getting along with each other!
Last year at VEX Worlds this team of brothers, who both hope to continue to study technology and imagine future careers as programmers or game developers, were thrilled to meet Dave Lavery, NASA Program Executive for Solar System Exploration. Logan and Lucas are hoping to meet Karthik Kanagasabapathy at VEX Worlds 2016!
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from nearly 30 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
This week we caught up with VEX U team VCAT2 from Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in East Elmhurst, NY, who shared with us how inspired they are by the next generation of VEX Robotics students. In fact, the team explained that the best part of the season has been offering their expertise and knowledge with younger members of the VEX Robotics community. VCAT frequently volunteers at VEX Robotics Competitions in New York as they seek to help the middle school and high school students design, build, and program their robots and share news of their efforts on Facebook.
The team's current game strategy is to create custom match robots and with those robots they seek to balance their offense/defense with different autonomous routines. The team also has customized skills robots, which help them as they seek to score the maximum number of points. Members of VCAT also shared that their robots are modeled in DS Solidworks before moving forward with the physical assembly of the robot. In fact, many of the parts they're using this year are custom modeled and printed. Pretty amazing considering the challenges they've face this season, which might sound familiar to a number of other VEX Robotics Competition and VEX U teams, namely creating a variety of robot designs with limited resources. Yet, the challenges the team faced haven't ended there, as they are now seeking to raise funds to help create a cohesive team look with new uniforms for their trip to VEX Worlds.
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from nearly 30 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
We recently spoke with Teams 9364 and 9364B members Noah, Ross, Will, and Olivia from Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee about friendship, early morning PE class, and the joy of “Smokey and the Bandit” references.
REC FOUNDATION: How did you get involved in robotics?
ROSS: My Freshman year in high-school I was building a synthesizer with the co-coach of the robotics team and he told me that I should try it out. I was hesitant at first but once I saw how it works and what goes on, I was hooked.
NOAH: I wanted to do something with a group of people who love nerdy things. I saw the Pioneers from the year before and thought that it looked interesting and that I might be okay at it. I almost quit the first day, but I decided to stick with it, and I’m so glad I did. Now I want to do this for the rest of my life.
OLIVIA: I heard about the program at our school that had just started and was interested.
WILL: Our school physics teacher, Mrs. Stallings, announced a meeting about the fledgling robotics program at Brentwood Academy. The 2014-15 season was only the school's second year in VEX. There were workshop days that summer, and I instantly became attached to the program. Now I’m nearing the end of my second season and it’s been great.
REC FOUNDATION: What is your role on the team?
OLIVIA: I am mainly a builder; I love working with my hands. Apart from the building I also work on the engineering notebook (with my Inventor CAD skills) and scout teams at tournaments.
WILL: I was the programmer on my team, 9364B. I first took this mantle because no one else was willing to do the work associated with programming, but I enjoyed it so much that it ended up being my “job” on the team.
ROSS: My role in the team is the driver and builder. I have always loved to build things and it seems to be a natural talent of mine to drive so these roles are perfect for me.
NOAH: I am the team captain of the robotics program at Brentwood Academy. I also am the programmer, the primary driver, and a builder of the 9364 robot.
REC FOUNDATION: What were some of your biggest challenges this year?
WILL: One of my biggest personal challenges this year was learning the programming needed to be successful at Worlds. It was very hard to do this, as I am easily frustrated, and when something doesn’t work, as it so often goes in programming, I tended to give up and go with an “easier” code. It was thanks to my great coaches, especially our resident expert on programming, Mr. Chris Allen, that I was taught that not everything works the first time—something that really rings true in the programming world. As I have matured, I have found it easier to navigate through the world of coding, and to remember that I must keep my cool, as there are multiple solutions to everything and it will not work the first time!
ROSS: The biggest challenge this year for me was building a flywheel that would spin fast enough to shoot full court, would not burn out, and would be accurate. We have build dozens of flywheel designs and tested them and we think after all of that time, we have found the perfect flywheel.
NOAH: This year’s game is especially difficult since there are three different objectives: lifting, full court shooting, and field clearing. This is different from last year, in which there was only lifting and cubing. This means it is even more unlikely that a team can do everything exceptionally well. For much of the year we tried to do all three, but this turned out to not be possible for us for the time being. Now we are focusing on one goal at a time, and even if we don’t get there we will be certain that our robot will be great at what it is designed for.
OLIVIA: For Worlds, our biggest challenge was our autonomous. We refined our code for months, but it still wasn't perfect. We found out our issue at Worlds; our code was too precise to work well with the given field tolerance. So since fields varied little by little, we could do nothing about it.
REC FOUNDATION: What makes the team members on your team different from others?
NOAH: We give out “cool guy” awards. We blast “East Bound and Down” on the bus on the way to competitions, and we always make sure to work in references to “Smokey and the Bandit” in everything we do.
OLIVIA: We have specific roles on our team. One codes, one strategizes, and I scout. But we all build together and bring our unique experiences to think of new designs.
WILL: One of the distinguishing factors on our team is the diversity of personality among our team members. While I was easily angered, and quick to give up if something went wrong (I’m getting better, don’t worry!), my teammate, Ross, was always calm, cool, and collected, and the two of us really balanced each other out. This dynamic allowed us to work efficiently, and it ended up being a great partnership.
ROSS: We stagger our team (Sophomore, junior, senior) so there is always experience on the team and everyone can learn from one another. We also show our dedication to the team. Three of us do a before-school PE class so that we can use our PE block to work on our robot after school every day.
REC FOUNDATION: What is one important lesson you have learned from being part of a robotics team?
ROSS: I have learned many things from my experience on the robotics team, but the most valuable thing that I have taken away from my experience is that no matter how hard and long you work, you never know what can happen. I also learned that when you work hard you will reap the benefits later on even if what you are doing fails because you gain experience and knowledge.
NOAH: I have learned that we do not have control. No matter how many thousands of hours I’ve put into our robot, you never know if the autonomous program is going to work or even if the robot starts up. The best teams have bad tournaments despite their efforts. However, this is not a bad thing. We can only find out the problems in our designs when they make themselves apparent, and it is by this understanding that we improve each competition. Keeping up the effort regardless of outcome will push you through.
OLIVIA: Failure can be good. Instead of feeling bad about it, you must face it and figure out what is wrong in order to make it right. It can be discouraging, but also can be helpful.
WILL: I think the most important lesson I’ve learned from being in robotics is that it is okay if you fail, because not doing well is a learning experience, and the things you learned from it can help you to achieve even greater things down the road. For example, we had a terrible robot in our first ever tournament. It fell apart halfway through a match. However, we learned from our failures, we won the next tournament and qualified for the state competition, and after that we were on our way to Worlds! It really goes to show that failure is just an alternate path to success.
REC FOUNDATION: What are some of your favorite moments so far in your robotics experience?
WILL: The greatest moment in robotics is when everything finally comes together and works exactly the way you wanted it to. It’s the greatest feeling to know that all the hard work paid off!
ROSS: My favorite moment so far in robotics was last year at VEX Worlds when I was fortunate enough to captain an alliance in our division. This also shows how hard work and dedication pays off in the end.
OLIVIA: It was in engineering division finals at VEX World's when they announced the Division awards. I was looking giddy, just happy about how far we had gone. My teammate mistook my glee for hope to win the Design Award. He told me to not get my hopes up and that we weren't going to win it. One second later he was proven wrong. And we even went on to win the overall Design Award at the final ceremony, after joking about winning it.
NOAH: Winning the Design Award at VEX Worlds showed me that anything is possible if you commit yourself. I couldn’t believe that we had achieved something so much greater than we had aimed for, especially since it was only our first year. Going to the dome was also amazing, as I never thought that we would be competing with the best.
REC FOUNDATION: How has your involvement with robotics influenced your career path?
ROSS: Before robotics I was considering engineering as my career, but now that I have had quality experience with engineering, it has reinforced my decision to become one. It has made me look more in depth into the career field and I think I have found my interest to be in electrical automotive engineer. I specifically want to advance the current electric car. The current batteries are very heavy so my dream is to make it more efficient by making it lighter and more powerful at the same time.
OLIVIA: I knew I wanted to go into the tech/engineering part of STEM, but not which specific field. Robotics made me rediscover how much I love building things and has led me to want to be a mechanical engineer. Through principles I have learned in robotics, I now think of prototypes of things I'd love to build.
NOAH: Before robotics I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but now I know that I want to be an engineer. I love everything about it and can’t wait to do it professionally. Robotics has opened the door to opportunities I never knew existed, and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to partake with my friends on this incredible journey.
WILL: Robotics completely changed what I am planning to study in college. When I was a freshman, I considered a Humanities course, because I was only average in STEM classes. However, robotics taught me that if I set my mind to something, I can achieve what I once thought was impossible. After joining robotics and being opened to the world of computer programming, it gave me a vector to enjoy my true passion that I have held ever since I was kid—computers. By learning computer programming, computers once again became my one true passion, and now I am planning to study Computer Science in college. My choice completely changed! I’m so glad I joined robotics because it showed me that there are so many opportunities in STEM fields—especially for something I am passionate about.
About Brentwood Academy's Robotics Program: The program was founded in 2013 by physics teacher Wendy Stallings. In its first year, the team of five worked very hard, winning the state competition and went on to compete in the 2014 VEX Robotics World Championship competition in Anaheim, California. In 2014-15, more than 0 students joined the program to make up six teams. For more information on the team, visit their website: http://www.brentwoodacademy.com/page.cfm?p=4524
Road to VEX Worlds is a weekly series featuring teams on their path to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20-23, 2016, to compete with 1,000 teams from nearly 30 countries under one roof for one epic celebration as we crown the World Champions!
The RoboHillers are a first-year VEX IQ Challenge team from Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The season got off to a rocky start, but through much trial and error they were able to pull through to a stunning finish - receiving the Middle School Excellence Award and qualifying for VEX Worlds!
The team is comprised of twenty members, namely: Victoria, Joe, Brandon, Sean, Vincent, Nand, Jakob, Nathan, Liam, Sanzay, Josh, Eric, Aiden, Hritesh, Sreya, Katie, Sankalp, Eric, Kevin and Grace. The team's strategy throughout the competition season has been to empty the cutouts and then to park our robot on the ramp. The team tried a couple of design ideas, that didn't work and the robot malfunctioned during a few of their early matches. But, their persistence paid off and the amount of hard work and dedication each member of the team contributed shows through through their robot!
"When they displayed our name on the board as the winners, I couldn't believe it," said Grace Young, team member. "I will never forget the look of pride on our coaches faces."
Grace adds, "Before starting robotics, I wanted to be a graphic designer. But now, I want to be a software programmer."
The team members each have specific roles on the team and make sure to complete any homework before working on their tasks for the team. Each week, they set aside two hours to meet as a team.
For more information about Team 1715A, visit: RoboHillers
GREENVILLE, TX – March 4, 2016 – The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Online Challenges, which encourage students to apply what they’ve learned through VEX Robotics and additional interests to produce videos, work on engineering design, demonstrate website design, or even photography. Students who submit have an opportunity to share their ideas, win prizes and even receive a chance to compete at VEX Worlds.
The winners of the 2016 Online Challenges are as follows:
VEX Worlds will take place in Louisville, Ky. on April 20-23 where 1,000 of the best robotics teams from around the world will gather for three and a half days of competition under one roof for one epic celebration to crown the 2016 World Champions for the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition, and VEX U. For more information about VEX Worlds, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org/VEXWorlds. For more information about the REC Foundation, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org or www.RobotEvents.com.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work.
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