Hamilton County will send 29 elementary and middle school robotics teams to the VEX IQ state championship. (Left to right, top to bottom) Among those teams are Popcorn Penguins, Australian Armadillos, Cyber Saints, and Atom Splicers. (Photos provided)
Submitted by Brandon Crawford
On March 14, the Lucas Oil Stadium will transform from a football venue into one of the largest youth robotics stages in the state as 100 of Indiana’s top VEX IQ teams compete in the Indiana State Robotics Championship.
Among those teams, Hamilton County will be strongly represented with 23 qualifying middle school teams, along with six standout elementary teams, highlighting the region’s growing reputation as a hub for STEM education and competitive robotics.
Indiana itself has become a powerhouse in the world of robotics, boasting more registered VEX IQ teams than any other state in the country. The state championship brings together the best programs from across Indiana, many of whom have spent months designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in this year’s engineering challenge.
Elementary teams
Several elementary programs from Hamilton County will take the field, showcasing the strength of robotics education even at the youngest competitive levels.
- 1112A – SCI Sharks (Purple) – Sand Creek Intermediate School
- 1112D – SCI Sharks (Light Blue) – Sand Creek Intermediate School
- 1112F – SCI Sharks (Red) – Sand Creek Intermediate School
- 3125M – Archiebots – Archiebots Robotics Academy
- 40591E – Popcorn Penguins – Woodbrook Elementary
- 48222B – Cougarbots 2 – Sand Creek Elementary
These teams represent students who are often just beginning their engineering journeys, learning key skills such as teamwork, design thinking, and problem solving through robotics.
Middle school teams
Out of the 100 teams competing statewide, 23 come from Hamilton County schools, representing programs from Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Arcadia, and private schools across the county.
Clay Middle School
- 2529A – The Bobotics Club
- 2529B – Clay Trojan Robotics
- 2529C – OVERTURN
- 2529E – The Kodas
- 2529G – The G-G-GOATS
- 2529K – Smiley (Girls’ Version)
- 2529M – The Powerpuff Girls 🙂
Creekside Middle School
- 46032A – Atom Splicers
- 46032B – VEDAK Robotics
- 46032C – Medium Macs
- 46032D – UNITY Robotics
- 46032E – Minion Mechanics
- 46032F – Super Mario Brobots
- 46032G – KA^LE Robotics
- 46032H – Toodles Robotics
- 46032M – Quantum Mechanics
- 46032N – SCHEMA Robotics
- 46032P – Stale Bread
Other Hamilton County teams
- 214A – Australian Armadillos – Hamilton Heights Middle School
- 4606M – We Wear Hats for Hatss – Noblesville West Middle School
- 17102A – Cyber Saints – St. Maria Goretti School
- 34343B – Carmel CouGears – Carmel Middle School
- 36636D – Turbo Toasters – Fishers Junior High School
A growing robotics community
Hamilton County’s strong showing at the state championship reflects the rapid growth of robotics programs throughout the region. Schools across the county have invested heavily in STEM opportunities that allow students to apply math, science, and coding in hands-on engineering challenges.
Through robotics, students learn not only technical skills but also collaboration, persistence, and creative problem solving – skills that mirror real-world engineering and technology careers.
With nearly a quarter of the state’s qualifying teams coming from Hamilton County, local students will play a major role in determining which teams move on to represent Indiana at national and world-level robotics competitions later this year.
As the robots roll onto the competition fields at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 14, Hamilton County teams will be looking to prove once again that central Indiana is one of the strongest robotics regions in the state – and in the nation.
Photos provided
