"Girls trip!” That’s what Immokalee High School’s all-girls VEX Robotics team – Team 10101P – shouted when asked about their upcoming trip to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the VEX Robotics World Championship later this month.
“VEX Worlds is the Guinness World Record holder for the largest robotics competition in the world,” explained Fred Rimmler, Academy of Engineering teacher at IHS. “The high school tournament is 800 teams from over 40 different countries. Each of the 10 divisions has over 80 teams competing, so these girls will be competing against teams from China, Japan, Turkey, Australia … all over the world.”
Every year, VEX releases a new game for the competition season, and teams work throughout the year to design, build, and test a robot to complete several objectives. Team 10101P is one of four competitive VEX Robotics teams at IHS. To get to the world stage, they competed in local qualifying tournaments—two of the school’s teams, 10101P and 10101F, qualified for the state championship. At the state championship, 10101P earned a skills score high enough to qualify for the world championship.
“A lot of girls aren’t involved in engineering or robotics because they feel intimidated,” said Monica Villa Lopez, the only senior on the team. “We can all relate to that, and just being able to qualify for such a big competition means a lot to us. We get a lot of support from family and friends, and Mr. Rimmler definitely pushes us to go forward.”
“I’m excited because I haven’t been to Dallas, Texas,” adds junior Lily Trejo, whose two brothers also went through the Academy of Engineering at IHS. “It’s a huge tournament; it’s just a really cool experience.”
Junior River Robertson is a bit nervous. This will be her first time on an airplane. “I think once we get to the airport and start boarding the plane, it will really hit me. It will be fine once we get there.”
CCPS
The robot built by Team 10101P
This will be the third time IHS will appear at the world championship. It had two teams qualify 2017 and another team two years ago.
“Seeing these kids come in and spend countless hours, day after day, working on a robot, it’s validating to see that sense of accomplishment,” shared Rimmler. “We set out with some ambitious ideas, and the robot exceeded my wildest imagination.”
When asked about the team’s success, Monica said, “You have to have a lot of communication, perseverance, and patience because there are a lot of things that can go wrong with the robot.”
“It’s been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks since we received the qualification,” said Rimmler. “I’m just excited more than anything else. VEX Worlds is the largest robotics competition in the world, and it’s an experience like nothing else.”