MONTGOMERY CO., MD — In the heart of Rockville, a group of kids can be overheard giving each other notes as they run tests on robots they built as a team.
The wheeled machines were situated on specialized mats that laid out a course where the young innovators could put their creations to the test.
As one driver ran his team's robot through a trial, another teammate could be seen following the bot's movement.
These are the kids enrolled in the AOE Robotics Club, a decorated STEM center for children as young as 6 that has multiple teams competing in the 2026 VEX Robotics World Championship.
The VEX championship is considered the largest robotics competition in the world. It's currently underway in St. Louis and will run through the end of the month.
Robots created by the teams can take about a month to build out for veteran students and cost in the ballpark of $2,000. Some of the students involved in the club have gone on to intern at companies such as CSCI and Northrop Grumman.
Patch visited the Rockville-based club in the lead-up to the competition and spoke to members who made up the 2050S Skylight and 20850W Accelerated Dragon teams.
Alvin, a seventh-grader from Takoma Park Middle School, serves as a co-captain of 20850W Accelerated Dragon.
He told Patch he gained an interest in robotics after working on LEGO specs with his mom, adding that he hopes to become a software engineer in the future.
"I like the whole process of you working hard, and then coding and autonomous, and then seeing it actually work on the field," Alvin said. "You just get a really good feeling, because it just makes you really proud once you see your coding actually work on the field."
That feeling of seeing the end result was a sentiment echoed by Ivan, an eighth-grader from Herbert Hoover Middle School who is leading the 2050S Skylight team.
"Being able to build anything you want, seeing how it works, seeing how it doesn't work, it's really fascinating to me," he said.
But don't think these robots are of the battle bots variety.
Club members design their robots with the Python and C++ programming languages, all with the goal of creating custom functions that can be used in real-world scenarios.
Although competitions may allow for a brief combat element where a robot could be pinned, Centennial High School 10th-grader Evan says it's all about educational robotics.
"Robotics teaches you life skills that are in STEM in interesting ways," he said. "You're managing logistics for hosting robotics tournaments. You're managing logistics for the organization of the entire club."
"It's a really good way to learn about just life in general," he added.
Members not only learn from their own research and collaborations with other club members, but also from a lineup of coaches with backgrounds in the sciences.
Former club members who've gone on to university also occasionally return to run lessons or scrimmages.
Karen He, who works with the club, told Patch she's been able to witness firsthand how students have built themselves up throughout the years.
"It's really not 'they build a fancy robot.' It's, really, we see the robot has built up those students," she said.
"They become more confident, they become more resilient, and they're more passionate. They want to share their knowledge with other people. They have a big heart and to, you know, to support other people."
When it comes down to handling the pressure of the competition, it's all about understanding how to manage expectations, taking part in mock trials and staying level-headed.
Jerry, an eighth-grader from Robert Frost Middle School, told Patch the club competitions allowed him to let go of the stresses he experienced when first starting.
"After I met more of the VEX community and the people within it, we found that — I found out the people in there are very kind and won't judge you based on your performance or your robots," he said.
"That's what made me more confident about robotics overall, and made me more confident in my journey."
The eighth-grader has since created his own at-home robotics setup, telling Patch he sometimes works late into the night to make sure his programming is just right.
Launched in 2018, the club also includes an outreach initiative that has seen kids participate in more than 2,500 hours of volunteer work across the wider D.C. region.
Those community programs see the club host lessons ranging from coding to engineering and problem-solving.
The events are held at different participating schools, summer camps and special education programs.
For Ivan, volunteering is a lot about paying it forward since he learned from others about the robotics world.
"I feel like it's kind of my job to kind of give back that experience through community outreach," he told Patch, explaining how he and his team volunteer with individuals new to robotics.
One moment that stood out for Alvin happened when a child was mesmerized by the autonomous abilities of a robot that was being showcased.
"There was one kid who just kept watching it over and over again, and he just didn't want to leave because he was so attracted to the fact that the robot could move on its own," Alvin said.
"I felt really good because we could inspire younger kids to get into STEM and robotics."
As organizers see the daily positive impacts the program has had on the students, head coach Xiuzhu Yang says parents are also taking notice.
Where one club member might have been withdrawn, the robotics aspect has helped them come out of their shell and tackle leadership roles with full confidence, according to Yang.
One parent who also serves as a coach in the club told Patch that his child was very introverted when he first joined, but that with time, he grew to share his opinions much more freely.
Another parent, Bei, said her daughter, Hailey, has excelled since joining the program.
"Over time, you see the child develop different types of skills," Bei said. "As a parent, that makes me feel really good, seeing that they're being productive and making good friendships."
"It's definitely a great program for sure," she said.
Hailey also happens to be a member of the 20850W Accelerated Dragon team and got her start when she initially participated in the FIRST Lego League. She's in her fourth year of robotics.
She told Patch that even if she decides to shift her educational goals later down the road, "robotics will always be a part of my future."
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