Colorado VEX Championship at CSU-Pueblo Massari Arena
Release Date: February 17, 2014
Press Release
YOUNG INNOVATORS GATHER FOR THE COLORADO VEX ROBOTICS CHAMPIONSHIP
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY-PUEBLO MASSARI ARENA, FEBRUARY 22, 2014
Teams of Students Put STEM Skills to the Test at the Free Pueblo Robotics Competition
Pueblo, Colorado – February 14, 2014 – On Saturday February 22nd, forty-seven robotics teams from around
Colorado will converge on Pueblo. Colorado State University-Pueblo, with some well-regarded engineering
programs and a Robotics Lab, is hosting the 2014 Colorado Championship. As in the last two years, middle and
high school students will be competing for the top awards which will earn them an invitation to compete at VEX
Worlds in Anaheim. New this year elementary and middle school students will compete with the new VEX IQ
robotics platform for their shot at Worlds.
This year’s VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) game is “Toss Up.” Teams use autonomous and driver controlled
robots designed, built and programmed from the ground up using the VEX Robotics Design System. The VEX IQ
Competition (VIQC) game this year is “Add It Up” which also has team designed and built robots but using the
VEX IQ kit. Winners of the Excellence Award, Tournament Champions and Design Award, will qualify to compete
at VEX Worlds in April against teams from more than 20 countries.
The VEX and VEX IQ Robotics Competitions serve as a vehicle for students to develop critical life skills such as
teamwork, leadership and project management, honed through building robots and competing with like-minded
students from the community in a pulse-pounding, exciting, non-traditional environment. Both robotics platforms
were built from the ground up and designed to be an affordable, accessible, and scalable platform used to teach
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education (STEM) worldwide.
The VRC “Toss Up” game is played on a 12’x12’ 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 one minute
forty-five seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent
alliance by scoring Bucky and beach balls in zones and goals. The VIQC game “Add It Up” is played on a 4’x8’
field with teams working in collaboration to score as many points as possible. Both games also have single team
Programming Skills and Driver Skills where teams score their best without help or hindrance from other teams.
The coach/driver meeting is at 10 a.m followed by the Opening in the Massari Arena with the event expected to
run until around 5 p.m. Admission is free.
About Colorado State University-Pueblo
More information about programs at CSU-Pueblo can be found at csupueblo.edu
About Action Works
Action Works is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) that runs robotics events and other STEM programs. You can find more
information at www.action-works.org
Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.
