VEX Robotics: A Team Sport for Every Student

VEX Robotics World Championships is far more than just a robotics competition, it is an amazing training ground where students can discover their own strengths and adopt different roles to benefit their team.

VEX robotics was introduced to the school in January 2024. Our specialised teachers explored how robotics education at Aiglon College helps our students develop essential soft skills for the future. This year, after experiencing the amazing VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas, our IT department and robotics teachers can confirm this. 

Aiglon’s High School and Middle School robotics teams proudly represented Switzerland at the VEX Robotics World Championships 2025. Both teams reached the playoff rounds—an impressive achievement at this global event featuring over 10,000 participants. Middle School Team 9231X narrowly lost in the round of 16 to an alliance that advanced to the finals.

The huge scale and intensity of the VEX Robotics World Championships can be overwhelming and requires a broad team of students and skills to navigate it successfully. Every individual student, regardless of their technical level, plays a vital role in a team's success. A VEX team in many ways mirror’s a real world enterprise, which requires a range of individuals and skills in order to be successful.

The VEX Team

Imagine a business or organisation, where each employee and department contributes to achieve a common goal. This is precisely how a VEX robotics team operates, with students performing their different roles.

• The Technical Core (Engineers and Coders): These are the research and development and product development specialists. They design, build, rebuild, refine and rebuild the robot again and again. They create the robot from a pile of components; metal, wires, motors, cables and sensors. They program its autonomous and driver controlled functions. Their work demands precision, innovative problem solving, and a deep understanding of engineering, electronics, and software. Making, refining and breaking multiple iterations of the robot over the course of a season.  
• The Operational Backbone (Pit Managers and Runners): In the cramped, busy pit area at the Championship, efficiency is crucial. The pit manager acts as the logistical hub, organising tools, spare parts, and ensuring the robot is always ready for inspection or competition. They are the operations managers, anticipating needs and maintaining order amidst the chaos. Runners are the supply chain and communication specialists, swiftly fetching components and relaying messages between fields. Runners fetch anything from fresh batteries to food and drinks, ensuring that the team has what it needs, when it needs it. These roles are critical for smooth execution, much like a well-oiled logistics department.
• The Strategic Thinkers (Alliance Makers): Far from the technical build, the alliance maker is the diplomat and strategist. This role requires amazing interpersonal skills, keen observation, the ability to negotiate and build trust with other teams. At the Championship in Dallas, forming strong alliances was crucial for Aiglon to advance through to the elimination rounds. The most successful teams forge strong partnerships and understand other teams' strengths and weaknesses. They even make lasting friendships. 
• The Storytellers (Marketers): When our teams returned to campus they were greeted in their houses by students who knew about their success having read about or watched some of the matches online. Documenting the journey, celebrating successes, and sharing the team's story are vital to building awareness and sense of success. It is the marketer who captures photos and videos, manages social media, and articulates the team's achievements and challenges. They are the public relations and communications specialists in the making, ensuring the team's journey is shared with the school community. 
• The Nerve Center (The Driver): This role demands a level of skill that can only be appreciated by watching a competition match. The VEX driver, much like an F1 driver, makes split second decisions, executes complex maneuvers with precision, and often plans five steps ahead operating  under immense pressure. They make critical real time decisions that determine whether the team is successful or not. But in every team, with every driver, there is a clear understanding that without an alliance partner and the wider team, there would be no hope of victory.

Watch highlights our team's experience at theVEX Robotics World Championships 2025.

A Place for Every Student

The VEX Robotics World Championship vividly illustrates that VEX is far more than a contest of machines. It's a broad educational experience that caters to a diverse range of talents and interests. Students who may not see themselves as future engineers can thrive in roles that draw on their organisational, communicative, strategic, or even artistic abilities. Students will often move between roles during a season and even within a single competition. 

At Aiglon, we believe that every student can find their niche, develop invaluable life skills, and contribute meaningfully to a robotics team, whether that is VEX V5, VEX IQ, LEGO Explore or LEGO challenge. 

The journey to Dallas was not just about building a better robot, it was about building better, more rounded individuals, who understand their talents and successfully apply these to support their team. At the Championships, the roar of the crowd, the intensity of the matches, and the global stage  simply emphasised that all students can find a place and a role in a VEX team. 

With continued support from staff and parents, and the upcoming launch of the Aiglon A.I.R Lab (Applied Innovation Robotics), the future of robotics at Aiglon looks brighter than ever.

Authored by: Mr. Darren Wise, Director of Technology & Digital Strategy