Wahoo Robotics
Contact Us
You can follow and reach us on Facebook or Twitter, contact our affiliated schools, or email us at robotics@wahoowarriors.org
If you are interested in learning more about Wahoo VEX robotics, Please complete this interest form.
History
We started in the fall of 2016 as Calvary Robotics with Bishop Neumann Jr/SR High and St. Wenceslaus Elementary in Wahoo and St. John’s Elementary in Weston. We included students from 5th to 12th grade and were graciously hosted in the garage of the St. John’s Men’s group. We started with a Flavin Fund Grants from the Diocese of Lincoln to purchase initial VEX parts and materials. We expanded into a co-op with Wahoo Public Middle and High schools in the fall of 2020 and began to meet in the garage bays of Saunders Medical Center in Wahoo. We received computers for coding our robots and personnel support from Wahoo Publics Schools and a donation from the Wahoo Public Schools Foundation. We have continued to grow and now meet at the Saunders Fair Grounds Open Class Building, hosted by the Saunders Fair Board.
We deeply appreciate the support of our schools and community members for Wahoo VEX Robotics.
Our 91416 VEX club has been building championship seasons. We often have teams at the Nebraska State Competition and vying for spots at VEX Worlds.
2016-2017: Three teams to Nebraska State Tournament, 1 team went to US Open
2017-2018: Four teams to Nebraska State Tournament
2018-2019: Two teams to Nebraska State Tournament
2019-2020: Two teams Nebraska State Tournament, 1 team US Open, One team (91416A) was eligible to compete in VEX Worlds, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
2020-2021: Pandemic year, most competitions virtual with limited opportunities
2021-2022: Six teams to Nebraska State Tournament, 1 team US Open, Three middle school teams (91416A, 91416F, 91416N) were eligible to compete in VEX Worlds and all were able to attend.
How We Operate
Wahoo Robotics, VEX number 91416, is a cooperative of five local Wahoo schools, including Bishop Neumann Junior and Senior High School, St. Wenceslaus Elementary School, St. John’s Elementary School, Wahoo Public Middle School, and Wahoo Public High School. We are open to students in grades 5th-12 from these five schools.
We operate with a Board made up of volunteers that meet several times a year and communicate via email. Our finances go through Wahoo Public Schools and Bishop Neumann. Wahoo Public Schools providers staff member support. Bishop Neumann provides club oversight from Catholic Activities Youth Organization. The club has oversight from the Bishop Neumann with oversight from the Bishop Neumann CAYO clubs.
Each team of students has a volunteer parent that serves as the team’s coach. All Coach’s names are shared with the school districts to complete their schools safety/background check requirements. The coach does not need any prior knowledge of robotics or coding, but rather serves to encourage and support the students’ activities. VEX robotics encourages a spirit of professionalism, and all students display this by helping each other with questions. Experienced students routinely help new students learn the basics of VEX.
Each team meets about once week for about two hours. The season for most teams runs from August through February. Competitive teams--that have the goal of going to the State competition or Worlds-- might start to meet early in the summer and attend post-season competitions through April. Highly competitive teams may also meet several times a week. Our goal is to place students on teams with a similar interest level in robotics.
Each student needs to register by August 26, 2022, for the 2022-23 season and pay their registration fee of $300. The fees help to cover expenses for robot metal, parts, electronic components and sensors, arena, and game pieces. Each robot has about $3,000 in parts, so we must raise additional money through sponsorships and fundraising.
Please register here
https://forms.gle/X71kvt99WBBK6De76
Each team needs to decide how many VEX tournaments they wish to attend. A listing of the VEX tournaments can be found on www.robotevents.com. Each local tournaments costs about $80 for the team, which would need to be paid by the members on the team. Most local tournaments are held in the Omaha area from October-February. National tournaments like the US Open tend to cost about $600 per team and the VEX Worlds competition cost $1,200 in registration costs in recent years. Team’s need to have their own way to cover these registration costs as Wahoo Robotics cannot cover these expenses.
While we are affiliated with Wahoo Public Schools and Saunders Catholic Schools, the schools do not provide transportation to any local, state, or national tournament. Parents are responsible for transporting their own child to tournaments, or arranging a carpool situation that they are comfortable with, often with teams carpooling
Tournaments are often held on Saturdays, from about 8-4:30pm. There typically is no charge for spectators. Some tournaments are large and start on Friday and end on Saturday afternoon.
The Wahoo Robotics VEX garage is located at the Saunders County Fair Grounds, Open Class building. We share this space with other local robotics groups, including the Junior First Lego League Club and Saunders County 4H Robotics.
Advice for New Teams
We encourage new teams of students to start to by following an instructional guide for building basic robot components, such as a drive train. It works best when all students get a chance at all activities, building, coding, designing, driving, and writing in the notebook. We also have new students join existing teams with experienced players. These students learn VEX on the fly with the experienced team members showing the new members how it is done.
Each team will be given a location to store their bot and supplies. It is helpful if each team has a plastic storage container to store their gear and keep their work area tidy. While the club provides tools, many teams find it helpful to have extra sets. If you bring tools from home, be certain to label them. Here are some tools teams may find helpful.
• T8 Torx (Star Head) Driver --The drivers are more comfortable to use, while a long (9”) T-handle allows you to get to tough-to-reach screws.
• T15 Torx (Star Head) Driver
• T8 Torx (Star Head) T-Handle
• T15 Torx (Star Head) T-Handle
• 11/32 Nutdriver -- These fit the nuts used by the club. Make sure to get 11/32 Combo Wrench a “hollow shaft” nutdriver to use with long bolts.
• 1/4 Combo Wrench --This wrench fits the standoffs used by vex.
• Tape Measure --Sometimes you get tired of counting holes.
• Metal File --Many sharp edges will need to be dulled.
• Needle-nose Pliers --Helps to hold onto hard-to-reach screws and nuts.
• Small Long-nose Vice Grips --Works as a wrench, a clamp, and a do-it-all tool (and they were invented in Nebraska!)
Make sure to students write in their notebook at every meeting. Here are some links explaining notebooks.
https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2022/03/engineering-notebook-rubric.pdf/
Here is an example of a high school notebook for a highly competitive team. We would not expect middle school notebooks to look like this, but it gives some good ideas. There are other examples on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0El_fts9ns
We provide computers for each team to use to code their robots. Here is a link to the VEX code if you need it for a personal computer or your child wants to code at home
https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexcode/install/v5
Here is the link to the current VEX competition that our students use.
https://www.vexrobotics.com/v5/competition/vrc-current-game
https://www.roboticseducation.org/teams/vex-robotics-competition/
Go to RobotEvents.com to search for local VEX tournaments for your team to participate.