Hawaiʻi teams qualify for 2020 VEX Worlds
By Hawaiian Electric
Seven high school and three middl eschool robotics team searned top honors among 37 teams from HawaiÊ»i Island, Maui, and OÊ»ahu at Hawaiian Electrics’ HawaiÊ»i State VEX RoboticsC hampionships held Jan. 11 at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. The teams qualified to participate in the 2020 VEX World Championships to be held April 22-25 in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Excellence Award, the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics Championship, was given to Keaʻau High School, Cougar Tech Team 5968A in the high school category, and Highlands Intermediate School Team 394A from Pearl City, Oʻahu,in the middle school category. Both teams exemplified overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program.
808 Robotics Team 4109A, a home-schooled team from Pearl City, Oʻahu, and Pearl City High School Team 4142A were named the Tournament Champions. Team 4142A also earned the Design Award, which recognizes a team that demonstrates an organized and professional approach to the design process, project and time management, and team organization.
Team 4142A previously qualified for the VEX Worlds through earning the Excellence Award and Tournament Champions title at the Pan Pacific VEX EDR Championships in November. The team’s overlapping wins provided St. Louis High School Team 42700N andWaialua High School Team 359A with invitationsto the world competitionbased on their skills ranking scores. MolokaÊ»i Middle School Team 1037B andWaiÊ»anae Intermediate School Team 27301A also received invitations to the World Championships with their skills scores. This is the first time a team from WaiÊ»anae has been invited to the VEX Worldsin only the second year the team has competed in VEX competition.
Waialua High & Intermediate School’s Hawaiian Kids Team 359B andSacred Hearts Academy Lancer Robotics Team 2437A were named the Tournament Finalists at the State VEX Championships and also qualified for the World Championships.
Through earlier HawaiÊ»i VEX Signature Pan Pacific and the Mark Leon VEX events, Pearl City High School Team 4142B, WaiÄkea Intermediate School Team 38401A, Island Pacific Academy Team 442X of Kapolei, OÊ»ahu, and St. Louis High School Team 42700A were also invited to the VEX World Championships.
For a full list ofaward recipientsand team results, please visit: https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/RE-VRC-20-9130.html.
“Tower Takeover,” the 2020 VEX robotics competition challenge, required two-team alliances to compete in matches and attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by placing cubes in towers or scoring cubes in goals. The engineering challenge provides valuable life skills such as teamwork, perseverence, communication, collaboration, project management, and critical thinking.
Since 2013, Hawaiian Electric has been the presenting sponsorof the VEX Hawaiʻi State Robotics Championshipswith support from the Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium, Hawaiʻi VEX Organizing Committee, and hundreds of volunteers.
Excellence_Middle_Highlands: Highlands Intermediate School Team 394A won the Excellence Award – Middle School at Hawaiian Electrics’ HawaiÊ»i State VEX Robotics Championship held at UH Hilo on Jan. 11. The Excellence Award is the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics Championships, and is given to a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program. The Excellence Award for the high school category was won by KeaÊ»au High School on HawaiÊ»i Island. A total of 37 teams from across HawaiÊ»i Island, OÊ»ahu and Maui participated in the state championships, which has been sponsored by Hawaiian Electric since 2013. Highlands Intermediate earned an invitation to the VEX Worlds Championship in Louisville, Kentucky in April. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Electric.
Champions_PCHigh_Team4142A_and_808Robotics: Pearl City High School Team 4142A and 808 Robotics, a home-schooled team from Pearl City, were named the Tournament Champions at Hawaiian Electrics’ HawaiÊ»i State VEX Robotics Championships held Jan. 11 at UH Hilo. Team 4142A also earned the Design Award. Both teams qualified to participate in the VEX Worlds. Pearl City HighÊ»s Team 4142B earned the Amaze Award and Robot Skills 2nd Place award, and previously qualified for the VEX Worlds through wins at the HawaiÊ»i VEX Pan Pacific and Mark Leon VEX events. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Electric.