4/16/2025 Rheanna Lewis 3 min read
Written by Rheanna Lewis
This past January, 36 robotics teams from 12 high schools across Illinois and Indiana faced off in the Cornfield Clash Jr. The event was hosted by the competition team Illini VEX Robotics, a registered student organization.
Fourth-year mechanical engineering student Kevin Rife currently serves as president of Illini VEX. “We compete at the university level against other schools from all across the world,” he said. “Every year is a different design challenge for us.”
Illini VEX offers an important robotics competition opportunity for high school students, especially those from central and southern Illinois.
“Usually most of the competitions are concentrated in the northern section of Illinois, so this makes it a lot more accessible for them,” Rife said. “Also, VEX is a program that a lot of us have been doing since middle school and high school. And, it's a really great community so we’re trying to give back to that community by putting on these big events.”
Before the start of the competition, each team is given time to prepare their prototypes. Each robot costs roughly $3,000 to build, with the electronics system being the biggest expense. These robots may take anywhere from two to five months to go from a paper design to a working final outcome.
The match starts with a “15-second autonomous period” in which the robots abide by pre-programmed instructions without contestant input. At the end of this period, the team with the most points will receive a permanent point bonus. For the remaining minute and 45 seconds, contestants compete in the “High Stakes” game by using controllers to operate their prototypes. The robots score points by placing their corresponding color rings onto PVC “stakes.” The team with the most points scored at the end of each round advances to the next competition.
Cornfield Clash Jr. not only allows students to gain experience in robotics, but also provides the opportunity to advance to the state competition level. This year, the top prize went to the Baby Otters, a team from Yorkville High School.
“We started last year pretty bad—we got last place at our first competition,” a team member commented. “Then we got hooked and ended up spending about four hours a day in the robotics room. We achieved a pretty quick turnaround at the beginning of last year and qualified for state, but not worlds. This year we’re already qualified for state and hoping for worlds.”
Although this event was hosted for high school students, many students and alumni from Illini VEX helped make the competition a success. Anes Kim, former president of Illini VEX and Cornfield Clash Jr. judge, expressed her excitement about seeing the organization grow.
“I think that community is a really big point that we try to emphasize,” she said. “Especially since the VEX competition is really about engineering and education.”
Outreach is a goal toward which both Illini VEX and The Grainger College of Engineering strive. Husain Bardi, a Materials Engineering senior expressed the importance of outreach through VEX. “The biggest thing about having this tournament at the U of I is exposing kids to the university environment and seeing what they’re capable of,” he said.
Video and story by Rheanna Lewis.