The Vex Robotics Competition is a competition in which teams of students compete in a series of partnered matches to win the grand title of champions. Each year the challenge or game changes, and this year’s game is called “spin up”. There are five ways you can get points this year: 

1. Score yellow disks into your designated hoop without missing.
2. Slide yellow disks underneath the opponents hoop.
3. Cause opponents to miss the hoop and have the disk fall underneath their hoop.
4. Turn the rollers located on the sides of the field to your designated color.
5. Expand your robot as far as you can in the last 15 seconds. 

At the beginning of the match there is one robot on each wall, two of them being part of the red alliance and the other two being part of the blue alliance. Now with robots comes programming so at the beginning of the match there is a 15 second autonomous period where you run a pre-written program that makes the robot move in a way to get points. The alliance that gets the most points during the autonomous period gets additional bonus points at the end of the match. After that, drivers have one minute and 45 seconds to drive their robot and earn the most points that they can. At the end of the match the officials count up both alliances total points and the alliance with the most points wins the match. 

Because Cavelero has such a large space for robotics to take place, students from both Lake Stevens High School and Cavelero Mid High School come here every Tuesday and Thursday after school to work on their robots, programs, notebooks, and driving skills. Students have many reasons to join robotics but the main ones are because it’s fun, because a friend asked them to, and because it can help with careers.

In order for robotics to happen, the club has to have supervisors. The robotics students are lucky enough to have four amazing advisors: Mrs. Coulombe, Mr. Lynass, Mr. McGrath, and Mr. Fredin.

Robotics impacts peoples lives in many ways, teachers and students. Some of the most common positive impacts Robotics has on students was that they learned how to solve problems and communicate with people which are two very important life skills. The most common impact on teachers that robotics has is losing time to grade and plan lessons. “It takes a lot of time after school working with kids as well as creating opportunities for the kids,” says Mr. Fredin, one of the robotics advisors “so it does take away from some classroom time and classroom responsibilities, but it’s good to balance that.” 

In order to bring your team to success, you need at least one person that can build well, one that can code well, and one that can lead the team. We have many teams with all those great qualities and more but a couple of them have really stood out to our robotics advisors. With the 9th grade teams we have the Ferocious Foxes and Turtle Soup. With the 8th graders we have the Vexing Vipers and The Doves.

Another requirement to be a successful team is having a good robot design. In order to obtain points your robot has to be able to move for starters. The most efficient way to accumulate points is to be able to manipulate the rings. The most common

contraption people are making is an intake system connected to a catapult or flywheel. Most of the teams are going with a catapult because it is more accurate and can hold multiple disks at once. 

Here at Cavelero we have our own “Hardcore 9th grade team” also known as the Furocious Foxes. The Ferocious Foxes consist of four 9th graders, Corbin Kingston, Chris Rapues, Riley Walrod, and Koen Macaulay. This team was one of the first teams to build their robot, and many other teams look to them for help when building their intake system. Attached to the intake system, the ferocious foxes have decided to use a catapult and after watching them practice driving, you can definitely see how useful it will be during competitions. 

Another very committed team is the Vexing Vipers, consisting of four 8th graders: Tate Broadbent, Jacob Bishop, Nathan Linscott, and Luka Hobbs. While not as experienced as some of the teams with upperclassmen, the Vexing Vipers have been making great progress and are able to push rings underneath their opponents basket and spin the rollers in order to gain those extra points. They are also working hard to be able to expand their robot at the end of the match in order to get some extra points.  

The Vexing Vipers are not our only enthusiastic 8th grade team, The Doves have also been working hard in preparation for competition season. Consisting of Benjamin Seboe, Avery Touchette, Harshita Sinha and Layla Silveus, The Doves are able to do the same amount of things the Vexing Vipers can. Not only can they earn points in matches but they are currently working on ways to create an intake system attached to a flywheel. 

Unfortunately, last year the robotics club wasn’t as successful as other years, not having any teams making it to worlds. However there were many teams that made it to state. Worlds refers to the yearly world wide competition in which the best teams from around the world compete to become champions. According to Mr. Lynass, this years group of students chances of going to worlds are “good” but Mr. Fredin is a bit more cautious of this: “In middle school it’s an option, it’s easier to make it in middle school than it is in high school… I do [feel confident in the high [school teams], but the competition is much steeper. There’s a lot more competition at the highschool and there’s a lot more kids who have more time to build then we do here.” Just because there is more competition at the highschool level doesn’t mean our amazing highschool teams won’t make it to worlds. Just keep in mind these tips from two of our advisors: “Drive your robot to the best of its ability.” says Mr. Fredin and “have fun” says Mr. Lynass.

Of course these are not the only teams competing, working hard, and solving problems. Keep an eye out for your fellow classmates’ names on the announcements with achievements whether it’s making it to state or worlds. Good luck, and just as Mr. Fredin said, “looking forward to a successful fun season.”

For more information you can watch the official game reveal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIZgvVDZc2Y.