Global remote robotics competition enters second week
May 25—As the VEX Robotics Live Remote World Championship enters its second week, the nerve center of the competition is at Innovation First in Greenville, where judges and other event staff are keeping tabs on more than 1,600 teams from about 35 different countries.
The Greenville-based REC (Robotics Education & Competition) Foundation was central in the coordination of what they hope will turn out to be the world's largest remote robotics competition to date.
"We have had very good reception from teams from across the world," REC Foundation CEO Dan Mantz told the Herald-Banner. "Of course, people loved competing in person, but the pandemic put a halt on that. Then we thought, 'Hey, lets encourage students in STEM to help put together a global remote robotics competition,' and all of the kids from everywhere have been having a blast doing it."
Some of the students who helped with solutions for the remote event included a team from California who developed a scoring app, another group from Arizona who developed the interface that the teams, judges and other participants are using, and students in the United Kingdom and the United States who worked together on the competition platform, which is called "Online Robotics Competition at Home."
Innovation First and VEX CEO and Greenville native Tony Norman is, of course, pleased that actual STEM students in high schools around the world have taken an active role in the organization of the event.
"We are proud of all VEX Robotics competitors who, through the ups and downs of the year, still took on the challenge of participating in VEX Competitions," Norman said. "Your determination and perseverance show us that the leaders of tomorrow are truly remarkable."
