The WVU Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources hosted its first VEX Robotics Competition on Feb. 18-19. The event was sponsored by the WVU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and more than 50 teams competed.

During the competition, the student teams were challenged to design, build, program and drive their robot. MAE staff served as judges.

Members of the teams winning at the high school level each won a $2,000 scholarship to the WVU Statler College of Engineering, and nine WPHS students will receive the scholarship.

Middle school victors, meanwhile, get to attend the college’s engineering camps for free this summer, and eight Ohio County students will get this honor.

photo by: Photo courtesy of WVU

Members of the Bridge Street Middle School robotics teams compete at the VEX Robotics Competition this past weekend at the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University.

Ohio County Schools swept in the middle school division.

Team Steel Devils lll from Bridge Street Middle School won the excellence award and were crowned winners of the robot skills competition and one of the tournament champions. Team Steel Devils Vl from the same school were also tournament champions and received the judges’ award. Team Robo-Raiders from Triadelphia Middle School in Wheeling won the design award.

WPHS took home top honors among high school competitors. Team Iron Patriots Mk. 1 won the excellence award and were crowned winners of the robot skills competition and one of the tournament champions. Team Iron Patriots Mk. 4 from the same school were also tournament champions.

They advance to the state robotics competition, where they will have the chance to move along to the regional competition. Ultimately the goal is to advance to the VEX Robotics World Championships, which will be held in Dallas on April 25-May 4.

In last year’s state robotics championship, WPHS’ Iron Patriots Mk 1 and Mk 3 took home the tournament crown.

This past weekend’s tournament was the last for the high school students, and four of the five WPHS robotics teams have qualified for this year’s state robotics championships, according to JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools.

There are 13 middle school teams, and so far five of these teams are going to the state tournament. But the last middle school robotics qualifier is Saturday at the Warwood School, and Shay said more are expected to qualify.

The tournament at WVU gave the students a look at life on a college campus, she continued.

The competitors were judged on how well their robot could shoot discs into a basket, and how well it could “turn rollers,” she explained.

Additionally, the teams could earn extra points by adding an extendible part that could touch the floor.

“We have high school and middle school teams whose robots can do all three things,” Shay said. “That’s why they are dominating.”

In the end, robotics tournaments ultimately are about problem-solving, she continued. Students have to fix bent robot arms, or determine why that robot that was shooting perfectly before now is throwing to the left.

The students are learning important life skills, according to Shay.

“It is so amazing to just watch them throughout the year take a problem and try to solve it,” she said. “Over the year they grow in the game, and you see their skills developing. It’s incredible to watch their thought processes.”