Schools gear up for robotics contest

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indianapolis students will have the opportunity to show off their technical skills in the city’s first robotics competition later this month.

Mayor Greg Ballard and students from Arsenal Tech High School, Doshay Thomas and Darian Wiley, spoke with 24-Hour News 8 anchor Lauren Lowrey on Thursday about the upcoming event. Click to play in the video player above to see one of the robots in action.

The VEX Robotics City Championship, set for Jan. 19-20 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, will feature teams from 38 Marion County high schools. The competition, presented by Roche Diagnostics, aims to inspire students to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics as career pathways.

The winner of the competition will take home a four-foot trophy.

“It’ll be the biggest trophy in the school, no question about it,” Ballard said.

The top four teams will qualify for the Vex Robotics World Championship in Anaheim, Calif., on April 17-20.

Ballard said the competition has been in the works for a few years. He said some schools in the area already had robotics programs, but 30 of the schools participating in the VEX Championship are new to it.