The National Technical Institute for the Deaf Regional STEM Center (NRSC) at Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind hosted the 5th NRSC VEX Robotics Competition at Alabama School for the Deaf in Talladega, Alabama. Nineteen schools from across the country competed in robotics from Friday, February 17 through Sunday, February 19. This is the only national high school robotics competition that features students and teams who are all deaf or hard of hearing.

The competition includes teams from Alabama School for the Deaf, American School for the Deaf, Arkansas School for the Deaf, Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Family Center on Deafness, Florida School for the Deaf, Iowa School for the Deaf, Kansas School for the Deaf, Kentucky School for the Deaf, Maryland School for the Deaf, Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Oklahoma School for the Deaf, Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, Tennessee School for the Deaf, Texas School for the Deaf, Utah School for the Deaf, and Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

Students planned, designed, and tested out robot ideas in this yearly challenge. In the current version, named Spin Up, teams scored points using discs that are 5.5” in diameter, manipulating rollers in their favor, and/or covering as many field tiles as they can at the end of each match. There are a total of (60) discs and (4) rollers on a 12’x12’ field and the object of the game is, with an alliance partner, to score more points than their opponent.

At the conclusion of the competition, awards were given to the top-performing teams. The champion award was given to the Ninjacats from Iowa School for the Deaf. In the alliance portion of the competition, the team composed of Cool Kids from Oklahoma School for the Deaf and The Ones Above All from Texas School for the Deaf were the finalist while The Silent Reapers from Minnesota Academy for the Deaf and The Tech Tigers from American School for the Deaf were named champions. 

Seven Judges Awards were also awarded to various teams. The Judge Award, given to the team who displayed exemplary effort, perseverance, and team accomplishment, was given to Snow Dragons from Minnesota Academy for the Deaf. The Build Award, given to the team who built the most durable and robust robot, was given to Silent Reapers from Minnesota Academy for the Deaf. The Think Award, given to the team who had the most effective and consistent programming strategy, was given to Prime Team from Maryland School for the Deaf. The Innovate Award, given to the team that demonstrates a well-documented engineering process, was given to The Jerrys from Texas School for the Deaf. The Sportsmanship Award, given to the team who earned the respect and admiration of volunteers and who was courteous, respectful, and helpful to everyone, was given to The Trolls from Kansas School for the Deaf. The Design Award, given to the team that demonstrated the most organized and effective approach throughout the design process and showcased effective communication skills and collaboration, was given to Tech Tigers from American School for the Deaf. And the final award of the tournament, the Excellence Award, was awarded to the team that exemplified overall excellence in their robotics competition and earned a spot at the World Championship in Dallas, Texas. After much suspense, Eagles One from Model School for the Deaf claimed victory. 

With 2.4 million STEM jobs still unfilled according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for these types of workers is high. The NRSC program aims to prepare students who are deaf or hard of hearing for these types of careers. One way this is accomplished is through robotics tournaments. In addition to the high school tournament, a middle school competition was held at Alabama School for the Deaf on February 24-25.