On February 13, Norristown Area High School and East Norriton Middle School attended hosted by Norristown Area High School. Forty-five teams from 24 schools attended.  Out of those 45, five were from the high school: Team VEXtreme A, B, C, D, and E. The high school teams are led by Tom Auman who some may not know, but he works in administration.

The cafeteria and gym were filled with students and parents and tons of metal contraptions. All were working hard to create functional robots capable of fulfilling this year’s task: to shoot as many balls as they can into a net. Each team is assigned to an “alliance”: either red or blue.   There is a very complicated system of matching the competitors in smaller teams within the red or blue alliances.  Through a series of competitions, the teams accrue points and try to outscore each other.

The matches comprised of a 15 second autonomous period where the robots had to operate without a driver.  This was followed by one minute and forty-five seconds of driver-controlled play. The robots and drivers aimed to score as many balls as possible into either the low or high goals by elevating the robots into their climbing zones. There were ninety-four balls and ten bonus balls available. Consequently the task was not so simple for everyone. Unfortunately, not all robots were not functioning properly, causing one disqualification.

Although none of the NASD teams won, four made it into the top 25. They are heading to another VEX’s Robotics State Tournament in the coming months.