Fox Valley Robotics kicks off 22nd season of robotics for local kids

Registration is now open for the 22nd season of Fox Valley Robotics and Batavia Robotics.

This year will feature new robotics challenges for kids in 1st-12th grades, according to a news release.

Informational meetings for those interested in joining are scheduled for Saturday Aug. 19 at 3 p.m., Sunday Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. and Monday Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at Rotolo Middle School, 1501 S. Raddant, Batavia. Enter at doors N11. The organization hosts events monthly November thru February with 30-60 teams attending in different robotic challenges.

The LegoWolves Division for 1st-3rd graders will take on the new challenge “MasterPiece,” which will explore how people share their hobbies and interests in creative and captivating ways. Students will learn how to share their own interests and build a place of their own design. Using these ideas, the kids on a team will build and program a large Lego moving model, create an all-showing poster board and present to the public in an open house environment their creations.

The 4th-8th grade LegoDogs Division will be working on FIRST’s® “MasterPiece” at an increased level of sophistication. Using the arts as a guide, students will think about creative ways to teach people about what they love to do. In the MasterPiece Challenge, teams will build, test and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® to solve a set of missions as well as research, develop, and share their innovative “MasterPiece” solutions, according to the release.

In the 8th-12th grade Coyotes Division, the VEX® “Over Under” 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 15-second autonomous period followed by 105 seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of this fast-paced game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by tossing or placing triballs into a netted area, protecting their scored elements and seeing how high a robot can climb at the end of the game.

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, according to the release.

For more information, visit www.foxvalleyrobotics.com .