Members of “KylEd” include Calvin Craig, Norfolk, Eduardo Guzman, Madison, Kyle Lentz, Hartington, and Kody Salak, Columbus.
This is the first time a team from Northeast has qualified for the competition, which will feature over 90 teams from five continents and eleven countries, including Spain, China, Colombia, New Zealand and others. Other divisions competing at the world championship are the Middle School division with 188 teams and the High School division with 584 teams.
The Northeast team qualified after finishing in fourth place and posting a skills challenge score at the SCTCC Regional Vex U Qualifying competition held in St. Cloud, MN, in early February.
Teams compete in a VEX Robotics competition named “In the Zone.” The challenge is played on a 12’ x 12’ square field. In the Vex U division, teams compete in head-to head matches as a single team against an opposing team. Each match consists of a 45-second autonomous period followed by one minute and 15 seconds of drive-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing team by stacking cones on goals, scoring mobile goals in goal zones, building the highest stacks and parking the robots.
Richard Chrisman, information technology instructor at Northeast, said the robotics team is eager to compete at the international level this year.
“Participating in the VEX Robotics World Championship has been our goal for the last four years. We are extremely excited to receive an invitation based upon on our recent finish in the regional competition. VEX Worlds will be a great opportunity to interact with and learn from other teams as we take our robotics program to the next level.”
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PHOTO CUTLINE - Robotics Team
The “KylEd” robotics team of Northeast Community College will compete at the 2018 VEXU Robotics World Championship at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY, on April 25-28. Members of “KylEd” include (from left) Kody Salak, Columbus, Kyle Lentz, Hartington, and Calvin Craig, Norfolk. Not pictured: Eduardo Guzman, Madison. (Courtesy Northeast Community College)