The Riverland sponsored Windom Eagles Invited to Compete at the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship

The Windom Eagles, from Windom Middle School and High School were awarded the Excellence Award at the Dream It Do It Northern Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament hosted by Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College in Bemidji this past weekend. Riverland Community College provided the robotics kit that enabled Windom team to participate. With this award, the Windom Eagles qualified to compete at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Anaheim, California, in April against top teams from 30 countries worldwide. This was the team’s first VEX Robotics tournament.

During the day, they competed with and against 22 other teams from all over Minnesota, playing Sack Attack, a game which involves students programming their robot pick up and deliver bean bags to the goal in one minute. The students applied what they’ve learned about science, technology, engineering and math in order to build the semiautonomous machines. An equally important set of skills is learned through the competition—communication, project management, site management and the importance of composure—because students have to learn how to lose as much as they have to learn how to win.

To prepare for the competition, the group worked together to design and build a robot using the VEX Robotics Design System that could quickly and efficiently solve specific obstacles and challenges that come with playing the game Sack Attack. Their practice included attending a scrimmage at Riverland Community College. They will be competing again in the upcoming Dream It Do It Central Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament on March 2 at River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, hosted by St. Cloud Technical and Community College. The event is free for families and other community members to attend.

Peggy Young, Training and Development Consultant at Riverland Community College, introduced the team to VEX Robotics. “I am proud to see the improvements this team has made from competing in a scrimmage to competing in a tournament. Even more, they respect their competitors and advocated for them," Young said. "We are building more than robots here - we are shaping our future innovators to positively impact the world around them.”

The team members will begin working on raising funds so they can attend the World Championships.

Teams from Bemidji, Fisher, Grygla, Lancaster, Newfolden, Sartell and St. Cloud also won awards. The complete award list can be found at robotevents.com under the tournament information. The Dream It Do It Northern Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament is one of a series of VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. Dream It Do It collaborates with industry members to promote careers in manufacturing in Minnesota, including sponsoring robotic events like this tournament. The initiative is led by 360° Manufacturing and Applied Engineering ATE Regional Center of Excellence at Bemidji State University, and includes Riverland Community College and eight other community and technical colleges.

VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world, with more than 5,000 teams from 30 countries that participate in more than 350 VEX Robotics Competition events worldwide. The competition season culminates each Spring, with the laudable VEX Robotics World Championship event, uniting top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics Competitions.

More information about Dream It Do It is available at dreamitdoitmn.com, and more information about the VEX Robotics Competition is available at RobotEvents.com.