Five students, led by Robotics Club President Michael Wroblewski, will represent Vaughn College at the 2012 Vex College Robotics Competition next week in Anaheim, Calif. Joining Wroblewski will be Brian Linhares, Wolfgang Segovia, Raquel Torres and Jennifer Vasquez; the team will be led by faculty members Dr. Hossein Rahemi and Khalid Mouaouya.

The Vex competition is the premier college robotics championship in the world and Vaughn is a regular participant. Competitors are challenged to use their knowledge of mechanics, electronics and computer programming to construct a robot to compete against opponents for points in a designated game. The competition inspires scientifically creative thinking and problem-solving.

Competition will be held April 19-21 at the Anaheim Convention Center. A  total of more than 400 teams are expected in the high school and college divisions.

This year’s competition will challenge teams to use their robots to collect and deposits objects in a “goal.” Beginning with pen-and-paper designs, Vaughn’s team has been working on robot construction for several months. “That tends to be the most difficult part,” Wroblewski said, “not because the parts are tough to put together, but because you can’t fully understand how the parts work together without trial and error.”

Read more about the Vex College Robotics Competition here.