vex

I’ve never watched a robotics competition for any duration before, but Pearlridge Center gave me the opportunity this past weekend. On Sunday, February 17, 2013, Pearlridge hosted a VEX Robotics Competition as part of Engineers Week in Hawaii.

Middle and elementary schools from around the island showcased their custom designed and built robots in a competition of skills and strategy. The rules of the competition is complex with scoring, high goal scoring, de-scoring, autonomous mode bonus, parking bonus, alliances, and more. Regardless, watching the robots and the kids actively engaged was fun. I gotta say, using robots to block other robots was an exciting twist, and the defensive strategy was very effective, allowing the underdogs to take down higher ranked opponents.

Here’s a small taste of one round of the competition.

And here are a few pictures.

Congratulations to all teams and their schools for a great show!