Upper School Robotics Hosts Vex Competition
February 11, 2015
Anyone visiting the Athletic Center on Saturday would have been in for a big surprise! Instead of seeing a volleyball match or basketball game, visitors were treated to the school’s first ever VEX Robotics competition. Shorecrest hosted the competition for the Greater Tampa Bay Vex League.
This year’s contest, VEX Skyrise, challenges teams to score colored cubes on floor goals or posts. VEX Skyrise is played on a 12’ x 12’ square field. Two alliances - one “red” and one “blue” - composed of two teams each, compete in randomly-paired matches. Matches consist of a fifteen second autonomous (computer-programmed) period followed by one minute and forty-five seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain the highest score possible. Additionally, individual robots compete in skill challenges to showcase their designs and point scoring strategies.
Shorecrest is proud to have three robot teams participating in this year’s competition. The Robotics Club robot #6104 has performed very well and is currently ranked 7th in the state and 137th in the world in robot skills. This is quite an achievement in just their second year, especially considering there are more than 15,000 teams around the world. Robot team #6104B designed and built by the Intro to Computer Science and Engineering students are ranked 39th in Florida and 617th in the world. Also built by the Intro to Computer Science and Engineering students was our third team, #6104C. While their design was equally as strong, they came up just short of the Top 60.
All three teams, led by Upper School teacher Mr. Hunt, will be participating in the League Championship on February 14th at Tampa Prep where they can earn a bid to the US National Championship in Nebraska. Two of the teams have qualified for the State Championship at the USF Sun Dome on February 21st. The top 24 teams in the state earn a bid to the World Championships.
These students have put in countless hours during class, free periods, community time, after school and almost every Saturday since the beginning of December either working on their robots or competing in events - the club team even spent time designing, building and prototyping ideas over the summer. These two invitations mean a lot to this program and these students deserve to be commended for all of their hard work! The Upper School robotics team is a perfect example of what students can do if they have the right teacher and facilites to support them.
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