By David Rodriguez-Borruel
The Silver Tigers are a dedicated team of middle school students in the -VEX IQ Robotics Program at Harmony School of Innovation in El Paso, Texas. We (The Silver Tigers), recently earned a spot in the VEX Worlds Championship. This was our first season competiton and we could not have asked for a better experience, not only in learning and competing, but also in traveling and meeting new like-minded individuals from around the world.
This year was the VEX IQ Next Level Challenge. It was played on a 4’x8’ plastic field, consisted of one-minute matches and two challenges: Teamwork and Robot Skills. In the Teamwork Challenge, two teams would compete in alliance and try to score any points possible. Points were scored by pushing and stacking plastic hubs in scoring zones. The Robot Skills Challenge was played by working alone to score as many points possible with the drivers controlling the robot to score as many points as possible the competition also consisted of, pre-programming the robot to play autonomously, (no controllers).
On our first competition in the VEX IQ program, we earned the Robot Skills Award, and during sequential competitions, The Silver Tigers won the Design Award. The opportunity to participate in the West Texas Regional Championships where the team received the Design Award, which brought us to the World competition in Louisville Ky.
At the World Championship, we were placed into the Engineering Division with 81 other teams. The Silver Tigers proudly put El Paso on the map by bringing home one of six awards, the “Innovate Award.” This award was earned by the team who demonstrated the most effective presentation skills and engineering notebook practices. The road was long and hard but, in the end, it was worth it.
