Virginia Western Community College’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) along with its Engineering and Engineering Technology programs will host the 13th annual autonomous robot competition from 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday in the college’s Humanities Building gym. More than 20 teams comprised of high school and college students from the area will be putting their robots to the test. The fun-filled event is free to attend and a crowd of robot and technology enthusiasts is expected.
The theme for this year’s competition is “Hockey Skirmish for Southerners.” The semi-annual competition is based upon the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) national robotics competition. The 2020 ASEE competition will be held in Montreal, Canada, which is known for hockey.
In this year’s competition, autonomous robots will search for plastic pucks and attempt to shoot goals past an electronic goalie. Student teams have been hard at work all semester preparing their ice skating magic. The competition consists of a Science Fair presentation to local engineering and STEM related judges and then riveting robot hokey demonstrations.
The challenge offers a hands-on learning activity as students must create a design, perform 3D modeling, budget and order parts, assemble their robots, complete multiple test trials and troubleshoot software bugs. The excitement of competition day is that anything and everything can happen.
WHAT: 13th Annual Autonomous Robot Competition
WHEN: 8:30-11:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 7
WHERE: Virginia Western Humanities Building Gym
