Prepare yourself for Competitive VEX Robotics and more!
In the next few months we have a great series of Summer Camps starting which are designed to help prepare students for joining one of our competitive robotics teams (at the Middle School or Elementary School level.)
Just getting started? Our Robots Rock camp is the place you want to be; it's a no-experience-required introduction to building robots with the VEX system for beginner students. Similarly, our VEX IQ Build and Code camp is a perfect intro to basic robotics competition for slightly older students. Finally, our VEX Robotics camp is perfect for students who have some solid experience already and are getting serious about joining a team.
What can I expect to learn in these camps? What are the age ranges?
- Robots Rock - Ages 7-12 - A beginner's intro to the VEX Robotics System
- VEX IQ Build and Code - Ages 8-14 - Learn to build and code robots utilizing the basic principles of mechanical design, including structure, motors, gears, and more. Students will use the ModKit developing environment to program their robot to perform self driving tasks and radio controlled operation.
- VEX Robotics Coding - Ages 9-14 - Learn to code in Robot C, a scripting language for programming autonomous robots.
Read onwards to learn more!
Robots Rock - Ages 7-12
This is the place to start with VEX Robotics. In this camp, we will teach you how to build robots the Rolling Robots Way, with a strong foundation and broad understanding of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts. In this camp, students will build the Clawbot (see pictures below) as a starting point for picking up basic engineering rules that can be applied towards all of their robotics projects, as well as teaching them the underlying philosophy of mechanical engineering so that their future plans are always grounded in sound design principles.
After completing the Clawbot, students get to partake in Invention Day! Invention Day is actually a 2-day long event where students get to design and build their own dream robot. The first day is spent learning how to brainstorm and develop designs, along with some trial and error on those designs to see if they are feasible. After the initial designs are ready, students will start actually building the robot in order to have it completed by the end of the day.
Vex IQ Build and Code - Ages 8-14
This workshop includes building, coding, and a competitive challenge. After completing this workshop students are eligible to apply to become a member of our VEX IQ competition team.
VEX Robotics Coding with Robot-C - Ages 9-14
This Rolling Robots Summer Camp gets our future VEX teams ready for the In the Zone competitive challenge. Students will get to learn from the very same team that has consistently won top awards at multiple Vex World Championships, including their recent victory as Division World Champions in 2017. Each day of this camp will focus on a specific robotics subsystem and use live competitions between students to practice the lessons learned during that day's session. The students will program their systems in RobotC by writing code for both autonomous and driver controlled operation.
Students will review, build, and test robotic systems which will give their robot the power to move, lift, carry, and more! The robot will use these abilities for the In the Zone challenge, which students will participate in for the first time at the end of the camp. Our live matches dedicates 15 seconds (0:15) to executing the student's autonomous driving code and then it devotes the remainder of the match (1:45) to manual driver control.
About Rolling Robots' Competition Teams and the importance of our Summer Camp program
These Summer Camp workshops are pivotal for preparing our students for participation on our competition teams. Rolling Robots’ Teams are world class performance teams and we only accept the best. That being said, we also have an excellent track history of turning students into winners in the field of competitive robotics. Our teams have been to the World Championship each of the last 4 years, with over 10 separate Rolling Robots teams from various age levels participating. Each year we have also won awards. To name a few of our accomplishments:
- 2017 World Championship High School Division Champions
- 2016 Pan Pacific Champions
- 2016 Design Award and 2016 Community Award
- 2015 Induction to the World STEM Hall of Fame
- 2015 Excellence Award of the World Championship
- 2014 Teamwork Award
In 2017, eleven Rolling Robots teams advanced to the California State Championship, and five teams participated in the National US Open Championship in Omaha. Also, our High School team won the Pan Pacific Championship in Hawaii. The list goes on and on. (You can see more details on our team activities on Our Blog as well as on our various social media accounts: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @rollingrobots)
The reason we say all this is not to brag (well, not entirely), but also to emphasize the importance we place on our Summer Camp program. We offer a few Competition Team workshop series throughout the year, but during the summer we know we have our student's complete attention, as their learning time with us isn't competing with their regular school obligations like it might be during the rest of the year. We also teach such a diverse range of topics during our Summer Camps, that it is easier for us to make sure that students are always learning the right subject matter to keep their development on track towards becoming a competitive robotics champion. We really can't stress enough how good these classes are for turning novices into experts, so please, if you are interested and have the time this summer, consider enrolling now. Click the button at the bottom of the page to get started.
