KNOX, Pa. (EYT) — Students from across western Pennsylvania gathered at Keystone Junior/Senior High School on Saturday, February 8, to compete in a VEX Robotics competition designed for elementary and middle school teams.
The event featured two competition formats.
“It’s two teams, more of a skills-based competition,” said event official Tim Heffernan. “Part of the day we did this morning was skills, where it’s one robot working by itself to do the best that it can to win the Robot Skills Award.”
Heffernan explained that the afternoon portion involved teams working together in qualifying matches. “It’s two teams working together. We combine their scores and average it out,” he said. “From there, the top teams go on to the finals.”
Unlike traditional bracket-style tournaments, VEX Robotics competitions determine winners based on point totals. “It’s not head-to-head per se, like bracketed. It’s just pure scores,” Heffernan said. “So whoever scores the most points will be the winner.”
Participating schools included Cranberry Area Junior High, Central Elementary, North Clarion Junior High, Franklin Area Junior High, Valley Grove Elementary School, Keystone Junior High, St. Stephen School, and others. Students from 11 school districts took part.
The event served as a qualifier for the Western Pennsylvania finals, which will be held at PennWest Clarion University on March 4.
VEX Robotics competitions provide students with hands-on experience in STEM fields by challenging them to design, build, and program robots to complete specific tasks. The competitions emphasize problem-solving, teamwork, and engineering skills.
Teams that qualify at the regional level advance to higher levels of competition, culminating in the VEX Robotics World Championship.
