Mall of America's Atrium turns into a robotics arena August 6-8, 2026, when 120 high school teams show up to run their machines through OVERRIDE!, the newly released game for this season's VEX V5 Robotics Competition. The event is free and open to anyone who wants to wander over and watch.
The tournament, called the University of North Dakota Signature Event, is hosted by UND's College of Engineering and Mines and is the first Signature Event of the whole VEX season nationally — which is why it pulls in strong teams from well beyond Minnesota. All 120 team slots are already filled, with 29 more teams sitting on a waitlist, according to the event's registration page.
According to Mall of America's event listing, four top teams will walk away with invitations to the VEX Robotics World Championship — the kind of stakes that explain why a high school robotics meet can fill 120 spots and still have a waitlist.
For families planning to attend, the event runs in the Atrium at 2131 Lindau Lane. No tickets are required — it's built into the mall's regular public events calendar, same as any other free show there.