An insight into STA VEX Robotics and the upcoming Nationals with Wen Wen and Nicky.

An insight into STA VEX Robotics and the upcoming Nationals with Wen Wen and Nicky. Two Year 13 students Nicky and Wen Wen have been at the heart of organising the VEX Nationals 21/22 alongside our Robotics and Design Technology Teachers.

Two Year 13 students Nicky and Wen Wen have been at the heart of organising the VEX Nationals 21/22 alongside our Robotics and Design Technology Teachers.

 

As VEX student leaders and great advocates for Robotics, we wanted to get their insight to find out more about their roles in the upcoming event and the growing phenomenon that is VEX Robotics.  

What are your roles in helping STA host the upcoming VEX Nationals 2021/2022? 

Nicky: Event Design and layout 

• I helped to plan and visualise the layout of the Atrium for the event. This included taking an existing model of last year’s VEX competition and modifying it to create a different layout to suit this year’s competition which is now outdoor. This year's event is going to be bigger, physically distanced, COVID safe and more intense than ever before. 

• This year, the event will be outside and we have added more stalls for the increased number of student teams competing. It's great to see VEX growing in popularity in Bangkok and amongst High School students. 

• For entertainment and VEX officiating, I have added a central stage for the DJ Booth and increased the number of VEX IQ arenas. This will help create a smoother flow to the days' activities. 

Wen Wen: Officiating and hosting 

• I was mainly involved in organising the hosting aspect of the VEX IQ competition. 

• This primarily centres on adapting and enforcing the VEX officiating rules in both the main games and the skills challenges in order to encourage a competitive and healthy environment.

How did you personally get involved in VEX?

Nicky: There's an after school ECA which Wen Wen invited me to join. I already had an interest in robotics, as I had helped Mr Rob organise another robotics event previously (Robotics Association Thailand, RAT). With this event, I helped design the courses in Fusion 360, extending Mr Rob's ideas into real designs.

Any recommendations for students wanting to join the team? 

Wen Wen: We always welcome new students every VEX season from Years 7 to Year 13. If you have any questions about VEX and getting started, feel free to inquire with Mr Rob, Ms Holly, Mr Sam, Nicky or me. We are all happy to answer your questions. 

However, commitment and passion are essential requirements of successful VEX teams. To get a better idea of what to expect from the world of VEX, I recommend watching VEX Robotics videos on YouTube. This will significantly help your robotics knowledge and prepare you better to join the team. 

Lessons from VEX and plans for the future

Nicky - I joined VEX as I wanted to pursue more practical and engaging aspects of design and engineering. I've learned a lot about the teamwork aspect of projects, particularly when managing and distributing tasks to team members and how to draw out everyone's strengths.

I hope to pursue robotics even further at university, especially the intersection between software and hardware, which is why I have applied for Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering courses.