Robots Duel at Delaware County Christian School

Dozens of robots dueled at this weekend while being cheered on by fans. Over 40 teams of middle school and high school students in the tri-state area competed in a VEX Robotics tournament hosted by DCCS on Saturday.

Nine DCCS teams—five in the middle school and four in the high school—competed in the tournament. Four teams–two each from middle school and high school–made it to the semi-finals. One of DCCS’s high school teams made it to the finals.

The VEX Robotics program works like this: Each April, VEX releases a new game—tasks the robots must complete. Students then create robots that can best complete the task and continue working on and perfecting the robots after monthly VEX competitions, said Jim Crane, physics instructor and head of the science department at DCCS .

This year, the game asked the robots to gather a number of plastic rings and transport them back to a goal.

“Lighter robots can move faster, but they can also be easily knocked over by a heavier robot,” Crane explained about the challenge.

That is just one of the factors students take into consideration as they build their robots, Crane said.

“The students learn how to program each part. I explain the physics principles to them, but they build the robots themselves and the design is their own,” Crane said.

None of DCCS’s teams won this month’s competition, though one high
school team made it to the final round.

The Haverford School took home the high school win, beating an alliance of Radnor, Downingtown and DCCS. Downingtown Area Robotics won the middle school competition, where they were competing against other Downingtown teams.

DCCS high school senior James Kurtz was surprised by the fact that many of the DCCS teams did not place, especially considering that in one event in the beginning of December, they took home nearly half the prizes.

“For our school, it wasn’t one of our strongest days—we still did well; we just didn’t win," said Kurtz.

Kurtz views the loss as a helpful part of the process.

“A lot of robotics competition isn’t about winning—it’s about seeing the robots and trying to build your own, and making it better,” he said.

Crane echoed his sentiment. “It’s all about the process,” he said. “You learn and you have fun, and that’s what it’s about.”