STEAM

Fantasy Student Robotics Competition on YouTube This Saturday

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/24/20

Competitive student robotics are back in business. On Saturday, Apr. 25, 2020, the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation will be broadcasting a fantasy robotics competition on YouTube. Competitors will be virtually generated using past match results from the VEX IQ Challenge Squared Away and VEX Robotics Competition Tower Takeover world championships, with the winners of the new tournament recognized during the "VEX Virtual Worlds Celebration."

The in-person event scheduled for this year was canceled due to COVID-19. Typically, that draws 25,000 attendees from across the world. During the live event, students in grades three through college compete with custom-built robots in timed robotic matches.

Digital replacements will take place on the VEX Robotics YouTube channel. The VEX Robotics Competition Group (for middle school, high school and college competitors) will run, starting at 10 a.m. central time; the VEX IQ Challenge Group (featuring elementary and middle school student teams) will run at 11:30 a.m. central time.

"Although we had to cancel the 2020 VEX Robotics World Championship due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we're still planning to bring the excitement of this event to our community," said Dan Mantz, CEO of the Foundation, in a statement. "The nearly one million students worldwide who participate in our competitions have worked hard this past season, and we're excited to highlight their extraordinary achievements."

Qualifying match schedules are listed on the REC Foundation RobotEvents.com website.

The Foundation works to engage students in STEM activities, including robotics. VEX Robotics is a company that provides educational and competitive robotics gear to schools and universities.