VEX Robotics Competition
The VEX Robotics Competition is a robotics competition from elementary through university students. It is a subset of VEX Robotics, which is in turn a subset of Innovation First International. The VEX robotics world championship in April, 2016 was named the largest robotics competition in the world by Guinness World Records.[1]
There are three divisions of this robotics competition meant for different age groups and skill levels: VEX IQ, VEX EDR, and VEX U. VEX IQ is for elementary and middle school students only. VEX EDR is for middle and high school students, and VEX U is for university students. In the competition, students are given a yearly challenge, and must design, build, program, and drive a robot to complete the challenge as best as they can.
The description and rules for the following season's competition are released during the world championship of the previous year. Since 2015, the VEX robotics World Championship has been held in Louisville, Kentucky each year in mid April.[2]
Divisions/Rules
VEX IQ
The VEX IQ Challenge is a robotics competition for elementary and middle school students. A plastic robot set is used, with pieces that snap together using pegs, and it is extremely easy to construct a robot. Students from grade 3-8 may participate. There is a visual software to program the robot. There are two types of contests: Robot Skills, which is a single robot trying to score as many points as possible, and the Teamwork Challenge, where two robots attempt to work together to do the same. [3]
The current challenge is VEX IQ Ringmaster, and the objective is to score rings onto floor goals, rings onto poles, or for a bonus, rings all of the same color on a pole.
Past Challenges include:
2017-2018: Ringmaster
2016-2017: Crossover
2015-2016: Bank Shot
2014-2015: Highrise
2013-2014: Add It Up
2012-2013: Rings-N-Things
VEX EDR
VEX EDR is a robotics competition for middle school and high school students with two different divisions: middle school and high school. In this division, aluminum and steel parts are used, and the robots are built using the VEX EDR Design System. Students from Grades 6-12 may participate. Additionally, while the visual code editor is still available, most students take advantage of VEX's RobotC for their programming. At tournaments, teams participate in qualifying matches where two teams vs two teams participate. In the Elimination Rounds, alliances of three teams are selected by the top-seeded teams, and the alliance who wins the finals is the winner of the tournament. [4]
The current challenge is VEX Competition Starstruck, where star-shaped objects and pillow-like cubes are thrown/dumped across an 18"-24" fence. The robots may also hang on a bar. The alliance with the most points (which can be gained by having more scoring objects on the opposite side of the fence and by hanging) wins the match.
Rules
Middle and high school students have the same game and rules. The most general and basic rules for VEX EDR are as follows, but each year may have exceptions.[5]
- Each robot is paired up with one other, and they compete against two other robots. Team colors are red and blue.
- No robot may exceed the dimensions of an 18" cube until the match has begun.
- At the start of the match is a 15-second autonomous period, where all four robots navigate the field entirely by themselves.
- After the autonomous period is the driver control period, which is 1:45 seconds of manual control of the robot through a handheld controller.
Past Games
2017-2018: In The Zone
2016-2017: Starstruck
2015-2016: Nothing but Net
2014-2015: Skyrise
2013-2014: Toss Up
2012-2013: Sack Attack
2011-2012: Gateway
2010-2011: Round Up
2009-2010: Clean Sweep
2008-2009: Elevation
2007-2008: Bridge Battle[6]
VEX U
The VEX U level competition is for college and university students. The rules are nearly identical for this division as for the EDR division, but VEX U teams are allowed to take advantage of more customization and greater flexibility than other levels. Also, their robot creation is limited by the need to find effective costs and a restricted development environment in order to model a real-world situation. In addition, in past competitions, Vex U teams needed to create two different complementary robots, one big and one small, and program them to work together to defeat opponent teams.[7]
References
- ↑ "Guinness World Record". Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "VEX Robotics World Championship". roboticseducation.org. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "VEX IQ". Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "VEX EDR". Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "VEX Starstruck Game Manual" (PDF). Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "Past Competitions". Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ "VEXU". Retrieved April 17, 2017.