When the 2024 VexU Robotics World Championship kicked off this spring at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, more than 8,000 participants from around the world competed for the top prize. The international competition pits student-built robots in head-to-head matches.
For Dominic Holifield of Zionsville, the competition was his last at the collegiate level — and his best.
Holifield, a 2020 Zionsville Community High School graduate and a 2024 Purdue University graduate, came up short of winning at the competition twice — once in high school and once in college. Things changed this year.
At Purdue, Holifield was a member of SIGBots, a student organization special interest group that builds robots each year to enter into the VEX Robotics World Championship — the largest robotics competition in the world.
Holified said his team’s goal was to create a robot that could go up against other robots in a sports-like battlebot competition, tossing balls into an opponent’s goal. In a best-of-three matchup, Purdue SIGBots won two, earning the world championship. It was a moment Holifield almost missed.
“I was trying to have a more relaxing year, since I’ve been doing robotics for so long,” Holifield said. “But the guys convinced me to come back.”
Holifield’s team, which included fellow ZCHS grad Alex Lam, first built a 3D model of their robot. They used the model as a blueprint to laser cut parts to build the actual robot that was entered into the competition.
“In the second semester, we had the whole team sit down,” he said. “Everyone knew exactly what they were doing, what each robot was going to be, and laid out the plan for every day up until worlds.”
To qualify for the world competition, the SIGBots competed first in regional events, where it had to either win or earn an excellence award to move ahead. The excellence award is given to teams whose performance in the event is based on strategy, documentation and togetherness while competing.
Holifield’s was on one of two teams that made it to Dallas. The teams shared a practice lab on campus in West Lafayette, totaling nearly 200 hours.
Holified’s mother, Dawn Holifield, said the event was raucous, with fans using blow-up noisemakers, a live DJ and a light show.
“I never knew there was so much hype for robotics,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect. It was super cool.”
His mother said robotics has taught her son the importance of never giving up.
“The life skills you get from (competing), you learn so much to keep at it,” Dawn Holifield said. “Every time something failed, I think it actually got him to build it better and figure out a different solution. I actually got to see him enjoy it.”
Learn more about the competition at vexrobotics.com/competition.
