Robotics: Not Just For Boys

March 23rd, 2009 by: Justin

I’m spending this weekend at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, California, for the final round of qualification in the VEX Robotics “Elevation” tournament. (For a quick rundown on the rules, keep reading.)

iD Tech Camps gave away a scholarship to the “Excellence” award winning team – Team Spyder from Poway High School!

The winning Alliance consisted of 3 teams, the rest of the matches were 2-on-2. Check out the pictures – Robotics isn’t just for boys!

The ingenuity and enthusiasm I see at these tournaments is unbelievable. We use the same kits in our iD Tech Camps RoboContenders class that are used for this tournament, and I can’t wait to see what this summer’s crop of roboticists comes up with!

Here’s a quick rundown on the rules, from the vexrobotics.com website:

Elevation is played on a 12′x12′ square field. Two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in each match which consists of a twenty-second autonomous period followed by two minutes of driver-controlled play.
The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing cubes into goals, and by “owning” goals by having the highest cube in a given goal. Points can also be earned by “parking” on the platform or by “controlling” the bonus cube.
A bonus is awarded to the alliance that has the most total points at the end of the Autonomous Period.

March 23rd, 2009 | Tags: competition, game, iD Tech Camp, RoboContenders, robotics, robots, scholarship, tournament, vex