The 2019 California Central Coast VEX Robotics “Turning Point” Tournament featured over 40 teams of middle and high school students from across California and was hosted by Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers and San Luis Obispo High School.
The students compete head-to-head in matches that involve technical design, computer coding, skillful driving, teamwork, and strategy. The goal of the 2018-2019 VEX game is to score the most points by changing caps and flags to their alliance color and parking on the alliance platforms. On Saturday spectators of the competition were in awe as teams in the finals competed with their opposing alliance to not only score additional but maintain their existing points in this defensive game.
Each year, the VEX Robotics organization releases an innovative game that challenges teams of middle and high school students to design, develop, program, and test a functional 18 by 18 by 18 inch robot capable of completing the task. The winning alliance and recipients of the Excellence and Design Awards at this regional VEX competition earned a ticket to compete in the VEX CA State Championships, where the top teams from across California will compete to attend to the VEX World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.
The event also provided students and parents the opportunity to interact with current Cal Poly Engineering students and/or SWE members and explore the campus and engineering research labs, such as the Cal Poly Robotics Club. The VEX Competition was successful and inspirational for the competitors due to our 60+ Cal Poly Engineering student volunteers and 20 community volunteers who served as judges, robot inspectors, referees, team queuers, and more.
Since this event was held in the Cal Poly engineering buildings, many middle and highs school students were given the opportunity to explore the campus and interact with volunteers who are current students and SWE members. With a new wave of STEM leaders emerging, it was so exciting to see how passionate these students already are. We cannot wait to see what the 2019-2020 VEX Robotics game has in store!