The Loveland High School winning alliance at the December VEX Robotics Competition qualifying tournament.
Loveland, Ohio –Â Loveland Robotics hosted its very first VEX Robotics Competition qualifying tournament on December 22. Nineteen teams from the local area competed in the tournament, including teams from Milford, Indian Hill, Mariemont, and seven teams from Loveland. The winning alliance was two Loveland High School teams, which qualified the teams to state. A third Loveland High School team won the Sportsmanship Award at the competition.
With all of the recent robotics news and events, here is some background on the Loveland Robotics Program: It started as a single FIRSTLego League (FLL) team in 2005 and then added one FIRSTTech Challenge (FTC) team in 2011. In 2015, the program began to expand with the addition of several new teams. The Loveland Robotics Boosters was formed in 2017 to support the Robotics Teams of Loveland City Schools, and was officially recognized as a booster organization by the Loveland Board of Education in September 2018. Their mission is to foster growth of technology and innovation through funding, volunteerism, and educational outreach.
Loveland Robotics now supports over 100 Loveland students on 15 teams in five different programs.
Loveland Robotics now supports over 100 Loveland students on 15 teams in five different programs. These include three FIRSTLEGO League Jr (FLL Jr) teams, threeFIRSTLEGO League (FLL) teams, three middle school VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) teams, four high school VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) teams, and two FIRSTTech Challenge (FTC) teams.
To support these programs and help provide competition opportunities in the local area, Loveland Robotics hosted an FTC scrimmage in November and a VRC Qualifying Tournament in December. Loveland Robotics is also hosting the 
Cincinnati area FLL District Tournament in January, and Loveland High School will be the site of the Ohio FTC Championship in February.
The 2018-2019 competition season is off to a great start as FTC Team 5040, Nuts & Bolts, has qualified for both the Ohio FTC Championship and World Competition. FTC Team 10464, The Bionic Tigers, has qualified for the Pennsylvania FTC Championship. VEX Teams 10565B and 10565D have both qualified for the Ohio VRC High School State Championship. FLL Team 38182, Mercury’s Mechanics, has qualified for the District FLL tournament.
Applications for next year’s teams will be available in early April and links will be posted on the Loveland Robotics website (http://lovelandrobotics.weebly.com/). Students who would like to know more about the Loveland Robotics Program can [email protected].
Loveland Magazine is a sponsor of Loveland Robotics.
