It’s high stakes time for VEX robotics high school teams, both literally and figuratively.

This year, the state VEX Robotics competition will take place March 7 in Lehi, featuring the aptly named “High Stakes” game where teams score rings on posts and tackle the challenge of climbing a giant truss. 

Teams are competing for a chance to qualify at various contests, including the Iron Spartan, a 32-team contest hosted by the Murray High Robotics Team for the first time. The event, which took place earlier this season, was led by second-year coach Conner Winder.

“Last year I was learning about VEX and took the team to one competition; this year, we’re competing at four, including ours,” he said.

Winder said VEX robotics tournaments offer students more than just a shot at qualifying for state; they provide valuable learning experiences.

“Every time they go to one of these big competitions, it's high stakes. It’s a high stress situation where students are tinkering with the robot constantly. They learn a lot about how well their robot performs during a round and in between rounds, they can go back to their base and improve their robot,” he said. “The atmosphere is friendly though. Students can walk over to another table and say, ‘I like this about your robot. Tell me about it,’ and the other team will show them their code. They'll show their design and say, ‘This is why we did this. This is how it works.’ There’s great sportsmanship and a collaborative spirit.”

Winder said the engineering process is just as important as the result.

“The final product is not nearly as important as learning for these students. They put together a prototype, figure out what's wrong with it, and try again. It’s a process they repeat over and over and over for months until it's as good as it can be,” Winder said.

The experience also hones critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as teamwork.

"They need to coordinate to make sure things get done on time and meet the game’s specifications," Winder said. "They learn to be efficient, not only after school, but also at competitions.”

This was evident at the Iron Spartan competition, where all three Murray teams faced some robot issues, but persevered with adjustments.

"Our competition was open to any team, so we had teams from Nevada, California and Texas in addition to Utah. Our students gained valuable insights watching how other teams approached the challenges," Winder said.

Two of Murray’s team members, senior Cody Pratt and sophomore Preston Marshall were busy rebuilding their robot, “Wormhole,” after the competition.

“We’re building a two-piston mechanical clamp,” Marshall explained. “Our intake worked well, but we struggled with placing the ring on the clamp. We noticed a loss of grip, which caused the ring to fly off instead of landing straight down, often throwing it too far.”

Pratt added, “We also needed a longer hook, and after many trials, we figured that out. While we rebuilt our entire bot, including new wheels that help us get closer to the ground and drive under the vertical bar. Our other two teams kept their robots the same, but they added improvements."

Murray High’s robotics club is student-led and meets twice a week. As competition dates near, the students put in extra hours to refine their robots.

Both Pratt and Marshall are interested in engineering and have learned to fix design flaws, improve their CAD skills and work collaboratively.

Marshall is planning to enroll in a yearlong robotics class which will be offered next year.

“The class will be more structured,” Winder said. “We're going to talk about what it means to be an engineer in a modern economy and the skills they need. We're going to talk about mechanical principles, circuitry and apply those concepts to robots. Students will do everything my club members are doing, but they also receive formal instruction in engineering robotics.”

When Winder, a 2018 Murray High graduate, came into the physics teaching position last year, he agreed to advise the robotics club.

“It sounded cool, and I knew some tech stuff I do some on the side,” he said. “When I took my students to the competition last year, I realized how awesome this is. Advising the team has become a passion I’m here to help, but I love watching the students come up with ideas and get excited about what they build. Success, for them, is not how high they place; it’s about learning and applying something new.”λ