The 2016 VEX Regional Tournament, on Saturday, February 20, 2016, marks the largest robotics competition ever hosted in the state of West Virginia. Presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, this VEX Robotics Competition is an engineering contest in the form of a game in which students design innovative robots that complete various challenges to score points. The public is encouraged to watch the tournament for free any time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences Performance Hall in Charleston, W.Va. The final round of the competition begins at 3 p.m., with the award ceremony starting at 4:30 p.m.
VEX Robotics offers students an interactive way to immerse themselves in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through engaging robotics-building activities. Students are guided by teachers and mentors as they use the VEX Robotics Design System to construct their robots. This opportunity is geared for middle school and high school students ranging from ages 11 to 18. Objectives of student participation include gaining academic and life skills, learning how to work in teams, and increasing interest in STEM activities.
VEX in West Virginia is directed and managed by NASA’s Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Program’s Educator Resource Center (ERC), in partnership with the Clay Center, the High Technology Foundation, and Fairmont State University. Sponsors are NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project, NASA’s WV Space Grant Consortium, the Governor’s STEM Initiative, CSRA Inc. and Southwestern Energy Company.
This year’s tournament challenge, “Nothing but Net” is a game played on a 12’x12’ square field with two alliances, one “red” and one “blue”, composed of two VEX teams each. These two teams, or “alliances,” compete in 15 second matches followed by one minute and 45 seconds of driver-controlled play.
“The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by scoring your balls and bonus balls in your low and high goals, and by elevating robots in your climbing zone”, says Education Specialist Pam Casto, with NASA’s IV&V ERC.
For more information about NASA’s IV&V Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv/home/index.html
For more information about the West Virginia Robotics Alliance, visit:
www.wvroboticsalliance.org
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Jennifer Neptune
Independent Verification and Validation Program, Fairmont, W.Va.
304-367-8262
jennifer.d.neptune@nasa.gov