Vermillion Robotics Club Attends World Competition – Vermillion Plain Talk

Members of the Vermillion Area Robotics Club (VARC) recently returned from the 10th annual VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Competing against youth from 40 different countries, Vermillions teams brought home two special awards that recognized them for their hard work and effort.

Susan Rolfes, VARC advisor, said attending the world robotics competition was a great experience for the youth. VARC elementary and high school members were teamed with elementary and high school students from around the world during the competition.

Vermillions high school team competed with metal robots in six different divisions that included 564 teams.

Our team was assigned the Research Division and excelled during qualification rounds, says Rolfes. They were selected by the third ranked alliance to go into the divisional quarterfinal playoffs, but were eliminated in the playoffs by the alliance that went on to win the division and that took third at VEX Worlds.

The VEXC VRC team was recognized and won the Community Award in the Research Division for being the team that exemplifies extraordinary community involvement and awareness.

Through the effort of adult volunteers and our robotics club youth, our club has hosted two robotics camps at USD, a special interest day at Jolley, a girl-powered event promoting girls in STEM, Rolfes said. Our club has also offered non-competitive robotics, a club member taught Code Club at the public library last fall, and we hosted a robotics scrimmage in Vermillion and helped with events in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa. The kids also spoke about the importance of technology education to area civic organizations and the county fair.

Rolfes points to the wonderful support the club has received from the community as another factor in the team winning the Community Award.

Several organizations, businesses, and individuals in Vermillion, Yankton, and North Sioux City have partnered with our group along the way, whether it be providing a place to host an event, purchasing or loaning us equipment, donating event fees, and or offering us promotional items, she said. They all had a stake in our success promoting robotics.

Vermillions middle school and elementary robotics teams competed with plastic robots alongside 580 teams divided into eight divisions.

They aligned with teams from all over the world and quickly realized that not all of them spoke English, explains Rolfes. They shared tokens from their respective communities.

In the end, Vermillions elementary team placed 55th out of 250 teams in driving and programming skills. The VARC middle school team placed 98th out of 274 teams in driving and programming skills and also won a special award the Think Award in the Engineering Division. The Think Award is awarded to the team with innovative and effective programming.

The VEX World Robotics Championship event will be broadcast on CBS Sunday, June 11th at 2 pm (eastern). Watch for the VARC teams on the divisional awards screens.

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Vermillion Robotics Club Attends World Competition - Vermillion Plain Talk