The competition will be part of the Vex robotics series. Those who win at the local level could work their way up and eventually earn a place in the world championship games.
This year, STEAMwhiz does not expect local teams to participate in the Vex event. The competition will be on Jan. 17 at Albany Capital Center.
But teams from other parts of New York State will compete, and STEAMwhiz co-founder Javier Pulecio is hoping local students come to watch — and get inspired to join the Vex challenge next year.
"In the tri-city area, we're the only team that's competing (in Vex) at the elementary and middle school level," he said. "Now I'm trying to organize the Capital Region even more."
STEAMwhiz, a private business based in Guilderland, started to teach young students robotics. It has a lab space and offers camps as well as programming for other organizations. Now, the organizers are also teaching robotics and other science topics in local schools, through BOCES.
"Robotics is a great way to develop those base skills you need and you don't really get in other areas," he said. "You get mechanical engineering, you get physics, you get coding, you get creative problem solving, you get the teamwork. It's a really great opportunity for kids. I didn't start learning those skills 'til I was an undergrad in college."
There are several robotic competitions. He chose Vex because it was the most affordable. The entry-level kit for beginners is $600 per team.
"Others are thousands of dollars — it's cost prohibitive," he said.
The kit comes with everything the team needs to build a robot that can do whatever challenge is proposed for that year's competition. The materials are genuinely expensive, he said.
"That's the reality of robotics," he said. "Even if you get a consumer off-the-shelf kit that's less advanced than the Vex kit, that's $300 to $400. And that's just for kids to play with at home. Vex is the next step up. The electronics and the hardware that comes with it is really great."
But the cost is a major factor when local elementary and middle school leaders consider starting a team.
"That's the big hurdle we're trying to overcome," he said.
University at Albany's College of Nanotechnology, Science and Engineering (CNSE) is supporting the effort, with funding that will help with the local competition as well as materials to start new teams and travel expenses for other competitions.
When STEAMwhiz's middle school team unexpectedly made it to the world championship last year, the team had to quickly fundraise to make enough money to go to Dallas to the competition. There, the team came in 73rd out of 412 teams.
STEAMwhiz is a private business based in Guilderland. Pulecio has started the process to turn it into a nonprofit.
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