Hundreds of Central Minnesota Students Compete in Robotics Tournament [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD - Over 400 elementary, middle, and high school students put their robotic creations to the test during the Dream it! Do it! Vex Robotics Competition in St. Cloud on Saturday.

The tournament took place in the Rivers Edge Convention Center and was hosted by the St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Teams from around the state competed against other schools in a series of robotic challenges for a chance to attend the World Championship in Anaheim California.

Countless hours are put into building these robots. Students come up with everything from the design to the parts needed when assembling their creations for the competition.

Jessica Gehrke is a communication specialist with 360 degrees manufacturing, she says it was incredible to see all the students hard work paying off.

"It's absolutely amazing to see what these students can do and what they know," Gehrke says.

The tournament is a great learning experience for the students. Travis Wiltmann was a student competing with the Stearns County X-Bots team, he adds that robotics is also a great way to spend time with friends.

"One of the great parts about it is to get to be with your friends, you get to know your team a lot more," Wiltmann says.

Vex Robotics is a growing competitive robotics program for middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world. There are more than 5,000 teams from 30 different countries that compete worldwide.