News

9/16/18 - Kickoff may have been a little wet, but most teams were able to come out to see the field and have a great start. We'll see you all again in five weeks for demo day!

9/11/18 - Kickoff is just a few days away - we hope you're ready for this! The main kickoff starts at 12:30 PM at St. Mary's University in the practice gym of Alumni Athletic and Convocation Center (enter on the East side of the building), but we'll also be doing three parallel training sessions from 10:30 AM  to 11:30 AM.  The sessions will be:

1. Software Overview – basics of connecting and programming the VEX Cortex.
2. Kit Overview – introduction to the return kit – identifying the components and how they’re used together.
3. BEST Award Overview – this is an introduction/Q&A session specifically for new teams.

The BEST Award session is in a room that can hold just over 20 people and is specifically intended to help new teams understand the elements of the BEST Award and the resources available to help with doing this for the first time.  Please allow new teams the first opportunity to attend the BEST Award session.

You will need to pick up your kit on Saturday.  There is a returnable kit box that contains the controller, joystick, motors, and other electronic parts, and three packages that comprise the consumable kit.  The consumable kit elements are a 1 ft x 1 ft x 4 ft box, a 2 ft x 4 ft plywood panels and a 5 ft long bundle of PVC pipe and conduit.  These will fit easily into a small SUV but may present a challenge to fit into some smaller cars.  Please plan for the space needed and make sure that you leave with all four packages that make up the entire kit.

See you Saturday!

8/22/18 - Still a few weeks until our kickoff (Sep 15), but the Best Robotics, Inc online kickoff is this Saturday (8/25) at 11:00 AM CST on the Best Robotics, IncYouTube Channel.

7/25/18 - Kickoff is not that far away! Keep your eyes out for information about an online kickoff event prior to our physical kickoff in San Antonio (Sep 15).

We're still accepting team registrations, but we're placing those teams on a waiting list since we already have all 44 of our spots filled. It's great to see all of the interest; we just need to figure out how to accommodate more and more teams..

6/1/18 - We've posted a tentative schedule - note that game day is planned to be on a Sunday, so you get a bonus day to build your machine!

bESTology has started up for the summer. This is a fun way to learn some science related to this year's game through weekly exercises.

As of today, we have 41 teams signed up. If your school is not on the list of teams that show up on the schools page, then you might want to ask the sponsoring teacher about that. There are only a few slots left!

4/1/18 - Team sign up is now open. Please login and then visit the schools page to get your spot.

This year we plan to expand the number of teams to at least 44 to accommodate the increased interest in BEST in our area. However, we're going to do things a little differently this year by initially allocated 38 spots to teams within our designated "home" area, which is Bexar county and the adjacent counties (Guadalupe, Comal, Medina, Atascosa, Wilson, Kendall, and Bandera) and initially allocate 6 spot to teams outside the home area. On May 1, we will remove the area distinction.

Spots will be awarded on a first come basis, with initial preference to teams that participated on game day in 2017. Teams that dropped out after receiving a kit in 2017, will not be accepted until after May 1. Any team that did not participate in 2017 will need to provide an e-mail from a school administrator indicating the school's support for the team's participation. We will maintain waiting lists for teams that sign up beyond the total that we can accept in case a team drops out prior to kickoff.

Please note that confirmation of your spot requires SA BEST to act on your online submission - registration is not immediate nor guaranteed. You will receive feedback that you team has a spot, and then your team will appear on the schools list.

Sponsors

SA BEST appreciates the contributions of all sponsors, but would particularly like to recognize

for their contributions to all  BEST hubs through their Yes Program