KUdos, Kettering University’s robotics team, won 9 of 10 qualification matches at the 2026 VEX U World Championship in St. Louis. The team also earned the Innovate Award and advanced to elimination play in the Opportunity Division. Across those early matches, KUdos showed clean cycles, sound decision-making, and fewer errors than their opponents, which carried them into bracket play.
In this year’s game, Push Back, teams focused on maintaining control as blocks move frequently and scores can shift quickly. KUdos handled that dynamic well, remaining steady as matches tightened and avoiding the late errors that often determine outcomes.
The Innovate Award recognizes a single novel part of a team's robot or strategy, something unique among submissions at the event, well-documented from first sketch to final build, and actually in use on the field. For KUdos, that meant designing a custom electronics stack from the ground up: an odometry computer paired with team-built magnetic encoders for position tracking, a Limelight 3A vision camera running a trained neural network to spot the Match Loader, and a Raspberry Pi with a custom communication board tying it all together. It's a first for the team this year, integrating custom sensors and designing their own PCBs. Not just new hardware, but the integrated software stack written to drive it, turning a collection of parts into one system that the robot actually relies on every match.
Elimination matches are faster and less forgiving, where a missed cycle or slow response can decide the outcome. KUdos entered bracket play in the Opportunity Division and competed in that environment, where small adjustments carry weight and timing becomes increasingly critical.
“This kind of competition mirrors the conditions students will face in the workplace. They’re working within constraints, responding in real time, and relying on systems they’ve built and tested,” said Kim Shumaker, Director of the Robotics Center & Robotics Outreach at Kettering. “That experience is what builds confidence and prepares them to perform at a high level.”
The VEX U World Championship draws 150 of the top collegiate teams from around the world. The level is high across the board, and consistency is hard to maintain from one match to the next. Moving from a 9–1 qualification run into elimination play says something about how the team performed across that stretch.
“I've said it before, and I'll say it again, our main goal is to get better every year,” said Nathan Nguyen ’26, team captain, design and fabrication lead, and drive coach. “We showed how far we can go this season, but we're just getting started. Job’s not done.”
KUdos closes the 2026 season with a 35-11-1 record, a Design Award, Tournament Finalists, 2 Excellence Awards, & a World Championship Innoate Award, as well as experience in elimination rounds at the world championship level. It’s a clear step forward and a position the team can build from heading into the next cycle.
