Get Involved: VEX Robotics 2022-2023

Excitement is building in the CABOCES region as teams are forming and starting to prepare for the 2022-2023 CABOCES Student Competitions, sponsored through CoSer 506.  Specifically, thirteen districts will participate in the 2022-2023 CABOCES VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament Series.  For the first time, teams will have 2 local qualifying tournament experiences.  Twenty-six VEX Robotics teams from across Cattaraugus and Allegany counties will be attending the CABOCES VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament at Belfast Central School on Wednesday, December 21st, 2022, and Cuba-Rushford Middle/High School on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. Students will compete with and against teams from Belfast, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Fillmore, Franklinville, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Pioneer, Portville, Randolph Academy, Salamanca, Wellsville, and Whitesville.

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Each year, an exciting engineering challenge is presented to middle and high school students in the form of a game.  The object of this year’s game, Spin Up (https://www.roboticseducation.org/teams/vex-robotics-competition/), is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by scoring discs in goals, owning rollers, and covering field tiles at the end of a two-minute match. 

All teams can compete in both qualifying tournaments as well as Skills Challenges.  Teams also have an opportunity to participate in a Team Interview and be judged on their Engineering Notebook.  Teams who earn advancement will qualify to attend the Northern New York State Championship in Syracuse in March 2023. 
To prepare for these tournaments, students work together to design, build and program a semiautonomous robot that can quickly and efficiently solve the specific challenges of the Spin Up game.  Teams study electronics, programming, mechanical systems, animation, 3D CAD, computer-aided machining, web design, and materials fabrication.  An equally important set of skills is learned through competition: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, project management, time management, and teamwork. 

The CABOCES Qualifying Tournaments are two of a series of VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. VEX Competitions are the largest and fastest-growing competitive robotics program for middle and high schools globally.  VEX Competitions represent over 24,000 teams from 61 countries that participate in more than 1,650 VEX Competition events worldwide. The competition season culminates each spring, with the VEX Robotics World Championship, an event for top qualifying teams from local, state, regional, and international VEX Robotics Competitions. More information about VEX Robotics is available at RoboticsEducation.org and RobotEvents.com.
 
About the REC Foundation 
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation manages the VEX Robotics Competition, which thousands of schools participate in around the world each year.  REC states that one million students are reached worldwide through all the VEX robotics programs, classrooms, and competitions. 
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable, and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the United States and internationally. Its goal is to provide these programs with services, solutions, and a community that allows them to flourish in a way that fosters the technical and interpersonal skills necessary for students to succeed in the 21st Century. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work so that one day these programs will become accessible to all students and all schools in all communities.
 
To find out more about VEX Robotics in the CABOCES region, email [email protected] or call 716-376-8323.                                                                                                             
 
Jean Oliverio, ISS Student Programs

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