On March 9, the Ithaca Robotics Team 639D traveled to Queensbury, N.Y. to compete in the New York State VEX IQ Robotics Championship. After a long day of competing, the team was awarded first place in the Robot Skills Challenge, which involved driving, programming, and coding the robot to complete various tasks. They also set a New York State record for the most points scored in this category all year. In addition, Team 639D was presented the Excellence Award, which is given to a single team that has demonstrated proficiency in designing, driving, and discussing robot functionality and design.
In earning these achievements, Team 639D qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship. Six ICSD students—Timur Urazgildiiev, Henry Schneider, Theo Bewley, Abel Bewley, Sophie Templier, and Jeffrey Zhao—will travel to Dallas, T.X. next month to compete against the top 400 middle school robotics teams from more than 50 countries. Of the seven years that the ICSD has participated in the VEX IQ robotics program, this is only the second time a team has qualified for the World Championship.
VEX IQ is a robotics competition platform for middle school students. Each year, teams of middle school students design, build, and code a robot using the engineering design process to create a solution to a problem. The robot then competes in a game, which changes each year, introducing new parts and designs.
This year, 60 ICSD students from Boynton, DeWitt, and Lehman Alternative Community School participated on nine teams. They started developing their robots in October, and all nine teams competed in a regional competition in February, where Team 639D qualified for the New York State Championship.
IthacaSTEM Advocates, an affiliate of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI), is helping Team 639D fundraise for the World Championship. If you would like to support the team, please donate here. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will help the team get closer to Dallas.