January 28, 2023- Millikin University hosted the Regional VEX Robotics Competition at the the Decatur Indoor Sports Center (DISC) on Millikin’s campus.
High school students across Illinois competed against each other. About 200 students, representing Northern and Southern Illinois schools, participated in the competition.
The event was open to the public. With the event being held on the college campus, high school students and their parents got a chance to interact with Millikin faculty, learn more about the university, and possibly consider Millikin University as the place to continue their education and robotics career.
The event is a series of two high-school level robotics competitions that will be hosted at Millikin University. The second event will be the Illinois VEX Robotics High School State Championship, which will be held in March. Winners from today’s event will compete in March at the State Championship, against the rest of the state’s qualifiers.
Millikin is able to host these events, thanks to Community Foundation of Macon County grant funding.
Daniel Miller, professor of Math & Computational Sciences, who started Blue Bots, the Millikin Robotics Team, is hopeful that events like this will motivate students from Decatur Public Schools to get involved in robotics.
“For District 61 students, for families in need, we can cover almost all of the cost,”Miller said. “If there are middle school and high school level kids interested in chemistry and robotics, through that foundation, we want them on campus. We want them to get that experience. With the foundation’s support, I really want to make sure we get into District 61, that we get those opportunities. You have to come see this. Once they experience this, it is a phenomenal way to keep kids motivated.”
The VEX Competition is managed by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation. It is one of the largest and fastest growing middle school and high school robotics programs. There are more than 23,000 VEX teams from 58 countries that participate in over 2,300 events worldwide. To learn more about VEX, click HERE.
Today’s competition was the Spin Up challenge. Each challenge consists of two teams competing in matches. The game is played on a 12-foot by 12-foot square field. The match includes a 15-second autonomous period, where a pre-programmed course is controlled by the robot, with no driver input. Following the 15-second period, a 1:45 driver-controlled period will take place.
The object of the game is to score the most points by having students’ robotic creations move yellow discs, that are laid out on the playing field, to a goal. In addition, at the end of the match, points can be earned by manipulating rollers on the field.
The Spin Up challenge was selected as the 2022-2023 game. Every year, on the last day of the World Championship, the game for the next year is revealed. Students will then work with their teams and mentors to build a robot that will compete year-round, leading up to the World Championship.
“Many of the kids will spend their entire summer getting ready for the next season,” Miller said. “Because we simulcast this, there are kids right now watching this in Asia. They are gonna say I can use that idea. So every week, what would have won this week, won’t win next week, because everyone saw what you did. And we are all playing with the same parts. So who can build the better tinker toy? So this constant idea of build, try, and retry. We see a score that would have won a month ago is not even competitive, and so we see this huge growth, and that’s the way the engineering cycle works.”
Just like how a robot needs several parts to function, there are several pieces needed to put this sort of event together. Whether it is volunteers, equipment, partnerships, etc. Both require all hands on deck.
Millikin partnered with the University of Illinois and Illinois high schools. Some of the high schools, such as Rich Township High School, provided the technical components, and helped run the simulcasting and cameras. Millikin’s softball team held a fundraiser, where they set up a concession stand and created an online buying venue for lunch.
Students from Millikin’s Blue Bots, helped with the judging and scoring.
Millikin’s robotics club was started four years ago. The university has not only had success against division I schools, but has also competed at the World Championships in Texas. Millikin finished 26th in the world.
Miller is hopeful this will be a yearly adventure at Millikin.
“This shared experience of Illinois is actually a benefit for us for statewide events because everybody gets to come here, where it is easier to travel to,” Miller said. “That is our big goal and that Millikin has a lot to offer.”
Below is the photo gallery of the Regional VEX Robotics Competition.
