Arsenal Tech robotics team making history at World Championship
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Arsenal Tech's X team is going to the VEX Robotics World Championship. Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
An Arsenal Technical High School robotics team is competing at the world championships for the first time.
Why it matters: Tech's X team is the first IPS high school team to reach the VEX Robotics World Championship.
Context: The VEX competition pushes students to solve complex engineering challenges that require coding, design and teamwork.
The team consists of seniors Jared Lewis, Brandon Rodriguez and Angel Cosme and junior Miguel Merlos — and the robot they've designed, built and refined all year long.
How it works: Each season, there's a new game, with different goals.
- The game is played on a 12-foot square field with scoring goals.
- Teams are paired at random and play each game two-on-two.
- The teams compete in matches consisting of a fifteen-second "autonomous" period, during which teams run a set program, followed by one minute and forty-five seconds in which drivers control the robots.
- The object of the game is to score by placing blocks in the four goals.
What they're saying: "It's really like you're playing sports, with robots," Isaac Adams, engineering teacher and Tech's robotics coach, told Axios.
- This is Arsenal Tech's fourth season competing in VEX and the program has grown by leaps and bounds, Adams said.
- This year, Tech had five teams and two of them made it to the state competition.
Zoom in: The kids are completely responsible for the design and build of their robot.
- Lewis leads the coding and design. Rodriguez leads the building. Cosme and Merlos guide team strategy and data analysis.
- As they prepare for their final matches of the year, the team told Axios their emotions are a mix of excitement and sadness, that the season's almost over.
Lewis and Rodriguez have another chapter together. Inspired by their experience on the team, they're going to Purdue University next year to study engineering and robotics.
- Cosme is going to Ivy Tech to become a paramedic.
- Merlos, the team's lone junior, is planning to recruit new teammates for next year's robotics season.
What's next: The VEX Robotics World Championship starts today, qualifying rounds run through Thursday, with knockout rounds to follow.
The bottom line: No matter the outcome, though, the X team has already made IPS history.