Robotics is a steadily growing field in our technologically-inclined generation. Competitive robotics is a sport that requires intelligence, teamwork, communication and the ability to think quickly.
Robotics teams are not a new presence on Bradley’s campus. Scattered members from previous teams were brought together last spring with the formation of Vex by juniors Josh Goldstein and Peyton Snidanko.
Vex is the go-to club for all things robotics. The group held their first meeting of the semester on Sept. 4. Members played a team building game to introduce coding concepts and emphasize the importance of teamwork. Teammates were tasked with directing one of the team’s leaders down an obstacle course, giving specific verbal instructions in a real life example of coding principles.
The teams got time to bond and learn basic coding principles through the importance of specifying instructions, before finishing the meeting with a robot idea brainstorming session.
Robotics is competitive, so Vex’s end goal is to win tournaments. The team plans to send out smaller groups, with two robots each. A lot of hard work is required to build, program and maneuver a robot. It’s difficult, but Goldstein and Snidanko balance some fun with the team.
“Vex is a place to compete, but also just a place to have fun with robots,” Goldstein said.
The group is excited to find ways to reach out and get younger kids excited about robotics, giving back to the community.
“The team is really open to anyone, we have members from a variety of majors. I myself am a math education major, and we love finding ways to incorporate everyone’s interests onto the team,” Snidanko said. “Our social media pages are run by an Elementary Education major, who wasn’t into coding, but still wanted a way to be involved.”
Robotics is often known as an activity for engineers, but Vex imagination and creativity aren’t limited to any specific major.
“Of course we want to win, but at its heart Vex exists to foster an environment to be creative and have fun,” Snidanko adds.
