Highlights

  • ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½β€™s competitive robotics teams, Knightmare and Daydream, produced a breakout season, advancing to the VEX Robotics World Championship in St. Louis.

  • The teams won a total of 83 head-to-head matches this year, beating teams from Georgia Tech, Purdue and Texas A&M University.

  • With Central Florida’s reputation as a leader in dynamic, high-tech fields, they envision the next phase of success and growth for their program in industry partnerships.

ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ has made a name for itself globally in programming and cybersecurity thanks to student-run clubs that deliver championships year after year. They now have company in another area of technology β€” robotics.

The Robotics Club of Central Florida (RCCF) witnessed two teams, Knightmare and Daydream, dominate with an impressive number of wins over this past academic year. The teams won a total of 83 head-to-head matches against more than 40 universities, and ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for individual robotic skills at the VEX University Robotics Competition (VURC) 2025-26, besting teams from Georgia Tech, Purdue and Texas A&M.

Four male college students huddle around robot for discussion in working group.
In addition to competing, the robotics club volunteers and participates in outreach events, including the VEX IQ challenge for middle school and high school students on the ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ campus. (Photo credit: RCCF)

Kushal Patel, an aerospace engineering major and a member of the Knightmare team, says the secret to the teams’ success this year has been their experience and passion for competitive robotics.

β€œCombined, the team has over 50 years of VEX robotics experience, with our most senior member competing since third grade,” Patel says. β€œWe don’t just participate in this project for bullet points on our resumes β€” our team competes for the love of competition.”

The team structure intentionally empowers all students to gain valuable experience during these robotics competitions. Daydream is a beginner friendly team focused on students without prior experience while Knightmare is suitable for more advanced students.

β€œUnlike other design teams, where new members typically participate in internal competitions, those who join Daydream are able to hit the ground running and compete against other schools right away,” says Kapri O’Brien, a mechanical engineering major and the project lead for RCCF. β€œThis structure allowed for both project teams to naturally grow and strengthen, and created the unique opportunity for us to compete against each other for awards at times this season, leading to the fantastic achievement of both Knightmare and Daydream qualifying for this year’s world championship.”

Two mechanical robots, identical in shape and structure but one white and one blue, with red and white ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ label on side.
Two robots compete at Vaughn College in Queens, New York. (Photo credit: RCCF)

Both teams also participate in outreach events, volunteering at VEX competitions around the country. They also recently hosted the VEX IQ challenge for middle school and high school students on the ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ campus to great success. Patel also works for the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, which logistically and operationally runs the VEX robotics competitions.

With Central Florida’s reputation as a leader in dynamic, high-tech fields, they envision the next phase of success and growth for their program in industry partnerships. ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ is known as one of the nation’s most innovative universities and is responsible for one out of every four of Florida’s engineering and computer science graduates.

β€œOur team provides a space for engineers to grow the skills you need outside of the classroom to be a skillful engineer in industry,” O’Brien says. β€œSupport, whether it’s through financial or material donations, allows that space to survive. We regularly prototype with computer vision and machine learning algorithms, gaining hands-on experience with the technology that will power our future.”

Industry partners or students who are interested in learning more about RCCF and its competition teams can email outreach@rccf.club.