About the Competition

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About the Competition

The VEX Robotics EDR Competition is a worldwide robotics competition for students in middle and high school. Started in 2007, there are now over 11,500 teams competing in 45 countries for a chance at the VEX World Championships. Teams need to compete through regional, state, and national level competitions to have a shot at VEX Worlds.

VEX 2019 Worlds

Competitors learn to design, build, program, and drive their own robots to compete in each year's competition [No experience necessary to join!]. The VEX season runs from April to April of each year, with a different game every season. The VEX Robotics Competition is played on a 12' by 12' field, with robots limited to an 18" x 18" x 18" starting dimension and official VEX parts only.

An example of a competition-legal VEX EDR Robot

Coding

VEX Robotics EDR robots are programmed with the free-to-use VEXcode software, which runs using a modified version of C++ (update: VEXcode now also supports Python). The software is built to accommodate anything a coder could imagine, while also being easy to learn and friendly towards beginners. Additionally, there exist numerous online learning resources and tutorials dedicated towards VEXcode. More information regarding VEXcode can be found at www.vexrobotics.com/vexcode-pro.

The Hardware

Hardware for the VEX Robotics EDR Competition includes all-metal building components and numerous high-tech electronic devices such as the new V5 Smart Motor with a built-in rotational and velocity encoder, a multi-colored vision sensor, the new V5 Robot Brain, and dozens of other robotic parts such as pneumatics, bump and switch sensors, servos, gear boxes, and more! With numerous more mechanical parts such as gussets, hinges, universal joints, as well as other cool features like custom length wires, the hardware of the VEX Robotics EDR Competition is enough to satisfy to demands of a coder and the imagination of a builder.

The V5 Competition Super Kit used by every ACL VEX Robotics team. Enough parts to build almost anything imaginable! (Within an 18" x 18" x 18" space, that is)

The Game

The VEX Robotics Competition changes the game each season, which runs from Spring of each year to the Spring of the next. The game for the 2021 - 2022 season is Tipping Point. You can watch the official Tipping Point video above.

The Team

Teams and the people who compose them are by far the most important part of any... well, team. Teams of the ACL VEX Robotics Club will be composed of around 5 students. Even though the maximum allowed number of students on a VEX team is 10, such a size would severely hinder the individual participation of each student. For this reason, teams were made to be 5 students to provide the opportunity for each student to get quality hands-on time with the robot, be actively involved in their team, and make a difference.

Learn More About VEX

Official VEX Robotics Change Up Game Manual:

https://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/21-22/tipping-point/Game-Manual-2.0.pdf