Fox Valley Robotics kicks off exciting new season of creation for kids

BATAVIA – Registration is now open for the 18th season of Fox Valley Robotics and Batavia Robotics, which is open to students in 1st through 12th grades.

An Informational meeting for those interested in joining is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at Rotolo Middle School, 1501 S. Raddant, Batavia. Enter at doors N11. The organization hosts competition events in November, December, January, and February, with 30-60 teams attending in different robotic challenges.

According to a news release from the organization, the LegoWolves Division for 1st-3rd graders will take on communities in the new challenge “Boomtown Build." The kids will work with LEGO® pieces to construct a robotics model which relates to their current challenge which involves improving the cities, towns, and homes. The kids will culminate their season in February in an event which celebrates their hard work and fun they had displaying their robotic models and poster boards.

The 4th-8th grade LegoDogs Division will be working on FIRST’s® “City Shaper.” Kids will use teamwork and imagination to solve problems involving communities and towns like transportations, accessibility and natural disasters. In the City Shaper Challenge, teams will build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3/NXT to solve a set of missions as well as research, develop, and share their innovative “community” solutions.

In the 8th-12th grade Coyotes Division, there are two different competitions that the kids can participate in. The VEX® Tower Takeover Game is played on a 12’x12’ square field. Two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen-second autonomous period followed by 105 seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by stacking cubes in towers or on goals. The other challenge for the Coyotes Division will be presented from FIRST® and is released in early September.

The goals of the above programs are to have the kids “think beyond the box” and to have fun. The programs allow the kids to go beyond simple box instructions and to formulate the why and how on their own with guidance from instructors and mentors, the release states.

“Creativity and ingenuity has no limits when it comes to robotics and what these kids can learn and accomplish” said Dee Karabowicz, a mechanical engineer and one of the lead instructors for the organization, in the news release. “Imagination is their only limitation.”

Batavia Robotics has been around since 2002, and adopted the name Fox Valley Robotics in 2007. As a not-for-profit, multi-community based organization, they are recognized by many schools and school districts in the area for their quality programs and provide kids the ability to explore the world of robotics with a variety of programs. For more information, visit www.foxvalleyrobotics.com .