April 2023 Newsletter
New Robotics Center Project Underway!
We are thrilled to announce that we have reached preliminary agreement for the construction of a new Robotics Center in partnership with Mercy Housing Foundation and with support from the City of Roseville! The design of the new ~2900 square foot dedicated facility is currently underway at the ground floor of 623 Vernon Street in downtown Roseville — a space tailored to our unique needs, creating a new permanent, optimized “clubhouse” for our teams, and the first of its kind non-profit regional robotics center with embedded outreach programs.
We anticipate moving into the new facility in the Fall of 2023, perfect timing for the new competition season!
Sacramento Bot Battles Recap
Sacramento Bot Battles was a huge success! Thank you to all the families who volunteered for setup, teardown, event operations and the VEX & VEX IQ demos!
An estimated 1000+ attendees stopped in to watch the combat action, with our own team Overclocked winning the tournament to become California 15lb combat champion!
Overclocked, RGBeater and Not Scott will move on to the BotsIQ National Championship May 19-20 in Pittsburgh, PA.
It was also great to see many of our original founding team members stop by and run the original Washing Machine (Kyle Miller, Taha Ahmed, Swayam Saraiya, Nam De Porceri, Roy Zhang) along with Chris Tan and Dhruv Gupta.
We love Glitch!
Overclocked California Champions!
Packed house for the fights
Free Hugs w/ Martin Mason - Best Design
The OGs
295B demoing their Slapshot bot!
Overclocked putting the hurt on Holy Cra@b
RGBeater - a just one battery disconnect away from victory
Alton showcasing 295G!
Battery and motor separation never a good sign - Not Scott, courtesy of Omega Prime from CRB
Quackin repairs in the pits
VEX Worlds & Game Unveiling Watch PARTy
Good luck to 295S, 295Y, 29500X and 9537X competing at VEX Worlds this week! Tune into the webcast to watch our teams compete on VEX TV .
Wed, Thur: High School Worlds
295S - Engineering Division
295Y - Arts Division
Fri, Sat: Middle School Worlds
29500X - Arts Division
9357X - Engineering Division
New Game Reveal: OVER UNDER
Watch PARTy!
Thursday, April 27
3-5pm
@ Robotics Center
The new 2023-24 VRC Game Over Under will be revealed during Finals/Closing ceremonies. Head over to the Robotics Center for a watch party & pizza. You might even get a jump start on your 23-24 game strategy!
Click Here to RSVP so we can get a pizza count!
Placer VEX IQ League Season Recap
We had a blast hosting the inaugural VEX IQ league for elementary school teams in 22-23. 6 Folsom area teams joined our 10 new PART IQ teams at the Roseville Venture Lab for 4 exciting, high energy Friday night league nights and 2x per month team check ins.
Robots, Yes!
Early season check-in
295B first build
VP of Outreach & IQ Coordinator Arya talking game concepts early season
295X and 295A celebrating Teamwork Championship
14294H showing their enthusiasm that helped earn their Judge Award
Excellence Award & Robot Skills Champion 295J
Thank you Growth Factory for sponsoring the league and providing the host venue!
295C Sportsmanship Award
Charged up for Robots!
Rapid Fire & NetherBots brought their big energy every night!
VEX IQ League 2023-24 Registration
Grades 4-7
IQ League registration opens May 1st, and will continue until August 31st or the league reaches capacity. Register early to ensure your spot in the league. We will be hosting two in-person information nights at the Roseville Venture Lab for parents and prospective team members.
Monday, May 22nd, 6:30pm
Roseville Venture Lab (tentative)
Wednesday, June 21, 6:30pm
Roseville Venture Lab (tentative)
Our beginner and advanced IQ summer camps are the perfect way to prepare for the league season. All IQ team members receive a 15% discount on all Placer Robotics summer camps! Contact us at camps@PlacerRobotics.org if you need the discount code.
The 2023-24 game, “FULL VOLUME”, will be revealed on May 2nd!
Summer Camps Are Here!
Enrollment for our 2023 Summer Camps is Now Open! All Cavitt/PART families are eligible for a 15% discount on summer camps. Contact your team lead or coach to get the discount code!
All of our Camp Directors, Instructors and volunteer counselors are former or current PART team members who enjoy teaching kids about competitive robotics, teamwork and community. Most camps have a 3:1 counselor to camper ratio, and all proceeds from PART summer camps go to directly supporting our programs.
We have full and half financial need scholarships available for every camp! If you have a child that loves robotics and needs assistance, please reach out to us at camps@PlacerRobotics.org to inquire about the scholarship program.
Camp Recommendations for Current/PART Members
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For younger team members looking to get started with VEX IQ, no experience required
Attend Introduction to VEX IQ Robotics, Slapshot Challenge Competition -
For students looking to advance their VEX IQ skills, recommended for 2022 summer camp attendees and VEX IQ League participants:
Intermediate/Advanced “Full Volume” Camp - get a jump start on the 2023-24 Competition season with a camp tailored towards the new VEX IQ Game
Intermediate/Advanced “Battle Bots” camps - for those that want to smash and grab!
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Attend the VEX Robotics Competition Team Fundamentals (VRC-V5) camp.
Designed for new VRC competition team members.Learn the VEX V5 System Basics and building fundamentals of competition robots.
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VEX V5 VRC: Advanced Competition Strategies & Mechanisms
This course is custom designed for returning VRC members to get a jumpstart on the 2023-24 VEX Robotics Competition Season.
Led by former 295Y VEX Worlds elite builder and Worlds Sportsmanship winner Dhruv Gupta, this class will focus on advanced game strategies and unique mechanical engineering concepts and mechanisms tailor specifically for the Over Under 2023-2024 competition.
Placer Robotics VEX & Combat 2023-2024
New Member Applications Are Now Open
Applications for the 2023-24 season are now open for the PART middle school VEX and high school VEX and combat teams. We expect to quickly fill to capacity, new prospective members should complete the application on the PART website as quickly as possible.
We will be hosting prospective new member information nights in late May to preview the season and discuss expectations and team obligations. Candidates will be contacted by the club leads regarding any questions and next steps following receipt of the application.
Returning team members should first complete the returning interest survey, and will complete the application later to provide updated registration/contact information.
Middle school: grades 7-8. Note, Cavitt Jr High students should apply to Cavitt Cyber Cowboys VEX club instead of the PART middle school program.
High school: grades 9-12 . Previous robotics experience or related projects strongly preferred; high commitment level; and ability to work well with others in fast paced, dynamic team environment
PART has added summer camps for new and returning VRC competition team members to get a jumpstart on the Over Under Season!
Cavitt Open House & VEX Recruiting
Cavitt VEX Club recruiting is underway for 23-24 as well! Teams will be showcasing their robots at the following events. Stop by to find out more about the award-winning Cavitt VEX program and our unique student-led culture.
Learn how you can join the Cavitt VEX Club, build cool robots and represent Cavitt Jr High School at competitions throughout Northern California!
Ridgeview robotics demo day, Friday April 28th near the Ridgeview school office at 3:25pm
Cavitt Open House, Thursday, May 11th. Visit the STEM classroom at 5:45pm, and then follow the robots to the competition field near the large Gym/MRP
ESF Steam Fair at Olympus Jr High, Saturday, May 20th
Incoming Cavitt 7th & 8th Graders should visit the Cavitt Cyber Cowboys VEX club page and complete the interest form. The team will be hosting an Information Night on Tuesday, May 23rd The Cavitt VEX teams will be demoing their 22-23 VEX Worlds and State Championship Spin Up Robots at the following events.
PART has added summer camps for new and returning VRC competition team members to get a jumpstart on the Over Under competition. (Camps are not required to participate on the Cavitt VEX club, but are a great way to jumpstart the new season).
Join Placer Robotics for the 2nd Annual Placer Girl Powered Workshop! The two-day STEM robotics workshop empowers girls in grades 4-8 to design and build a robot to compete in a VEX IQ Robotics game-based engineering challenge !
June 10-11th @ HPE in Roseville
$120 Early Registration for a full team until May 15th
$160 if you register after May 15th
Recent Fundraising Results
February Equipment
Fundraising Drive Nets $20,657
Thank you to everyone who participated in our February extra fundraising equipment drive! We exceeded our $10k goal and unlocked the entire matching offer! We’ve already put the proceeds to great use, bulk purchasing a large stock of pneumatics, sensors and other equipment for our teams
Placer Robotics Generously Supported By New Local Grants
We are fortunate to have the amazing support from local cities, communities and business in supporting our mission of STEM education and outreach through competitive robotics.
Restore Rocklin Non Profit Grant
American Rescue Plan Act funds assisting nonprofits serving Rocklin as they recover from the effects of the Covid pandemic
First Tech Education Grant
Expanding our Girl Powered Workshop and outreach programs for underserved
United Auburn Indian Community
Not Profit Grant Program
City Of Roseville
Citizens Benefit Fund
Thank You To Our 2022-2023 Sponsors
As we wrap up 2022-2023 season, we’d like to recognize our season sponsors once again for their support of PART and our robotics teams. Robots and competition costs have risen dramatically - we did a recent audit of one of our typical VEX Robots — the cost for the robots as built was $3100 alone, not including events, rebuilds, electronics failure etc.
We also want to recognize Lance & Courtney Loveday for their ongoing support of PART via the Closed Loop sponsorship. Our current lease at Penryn and future project in Roseville would not be possible without their generous contributions. #ClosedLoopCares
