Weiser High VEX Robotics team 9551A H.I.V.E. competed and gained an incredible educational experience at the VEX Robotics World Championships in April. The competition was held in Dallas, Texas this year and hosted the top eight hundred teams and robots from around the world including Weiser’s team. There are approximately 30,000 teams and robots registered with VEX robotics around the world.
Team member Jayden Anderson shared, “Being able to compete at the largest robotics competition in the world was a phenomenal experience. I’m passionate about robotics, and it was astounding to see over eight hundred teams with that same passion. High school engineers from forty-one different countries from around the world came to compete at this competition. It’s certainly opened my eyes to the scope of the robotics industry and reinforced my desire to go into software development.” As Anderson shared there were forty-one countries represented out of the seventy countries registered that attended this year’s Championships.
The Championship format went as follows: There were ten divisions, each with eighty teams. Each division had a qualifying round or pool play with each team getting to compete in ten matches. Just like any other competition the teams are randomly paired up with a team to form an alliance and compete against another two team match for each round. After qualifying rounds teams were ranked from 1-80. The top 32 teams (16 two team alliances) then went on to compete in the bracket rounds. The winner in each division moved onto the finals which took place at the closing ceremonies in front of about 10,000 people. Team member Xzavier Gonzales stated, “It was amazing to see the difference in robots and how most robots did similar things, but were all built in different ways. Along with meeting the student who made those robots and finding out the thought process that led to their robot being built the way it was.”
All the members of the team shared their gratitude for the community in helping them be able to attend this year’s Championships. Team member William Stalling shared, “Thank you everybody for allowing us to go to this experience. I was able to have an amazing time, meet new people, and do new things. It was awesome; there were teams from all over the world and best in their field, it challenged my abilities and went beyond my expectations. It was truly an amazing experience and I enjoyed every last moment of it.” Jon Lundberg, Weiser High teacher and VEX Robotics Coach, shared his thoughts on the team and this experience, “I am very proud of the team. First: making it to the World Championships is something very few teams achieve. They recorded a 4-6 record in competition, this places this team in the top 3% of all robotics in the World. Secondly: this team represented Weiser, Weiser High School, their families, and themselves to the highest degree. I would like to personally thank everyone who supported us for this trip. Without this backing, this trip would not have been possible.”
All photos are courtesy photos by Becky Anderson.
