If you’ve stayed up to date on robotics, you know that there are a large number of robotics competitions inviting applicants every year. These competitions are an excellent opportunity to learn, grow, and even to build your profile for future college applications in the field. Among these, the VEX Robotics Competition stands out, offering a unique blend of competition, prestige, and educational experience. 

What is the VEX Robotics Competition?

Founded in 2007 by Innovation First International, the VEX Robotics Competition is now managed by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, a global non-profit dedicated to increasing student engagement in STEM. The competition sees participation from over 45 nations and 11,500 teams of students, playing in over 750 tournaments at regional, national and international levels.

The RECF has created a massive community around VEX Robotics, creating multiple entry points and enabling systems to allow any high schooler almost anywhere in the world to gear up and make an attempt. You start with local competitions and make your way up to the VEX Robotics world championship. 

Is it prestigious?

VEX Robotics is without a doubt one of the most influential and most prestigious robotics competitions in the world. It is sponsored by organizations like Google, NASA, Tesla, Texas Instruments, T-Mobile, and the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Alumni of the competition often soar high in their future endeavors, marking their presence in top organizations like Amazon and the US Special Forces. 

Winning the World Championship or even making it to the finals is in itself a massive achievement given that you compete against thousands of students from across the world. Getting a VEX Robotics finalist tag on your profile is a global signal to admissions officers and recruiters that you are one of the best and brightest minds in robotics.

Who is eligible for VEX Robotics?

Over the years, VEX Robotics has expanded its competition structure and format to be able to make it more accessible to students of nearly all ages. Currently, the divisions are as follows:

- VEX GO Competition: for Grades 3-6
- VEX IQ Robotics Competition: for Grades 4-8
- VEX Robotics Competition: for Grades 6-12

Registration for VEX Robotics takes place at a local level. You must first form a team of ideally 5-7 students, and then register yourself for a local VEX Robotics tournament. Each tournament has its own timeline and registration fees, as each is run by an independent event partner (EP), who is the point of contact for any queries you may have. Make sure to filter appropriately on the above link, as the tournaments are in person and not every tournament makes you eligible to qualify for the world championship!

With respect to starting a team, note that you and your teammates will also need to build your VEX-certified robot. VEX Robotics sells various competition starter kits, which will allow you to build your VEX-certified robot. While you can choose to use other components, do note that the competition rules are very particular on what materials are used in making a robot. Since these kits and robot components in general can be as expensive as a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, you may want to check out how to apply for grants, which will go a long way in helping you and your team manage the costs of participation.

Timeline and structure of the competition

As mentioned previously, you and your team will have to navigate local competitions, each with its unique format and challenges, to secure a spot in the world championship. The commonality however is in the actual robot game, which is decided nationally by the REC Foundation. For 2023-2024, the VEX Robotics Competition is “Over Under”:

- The game is played on a 12’ X 12’ square field arranged as shown, similar to a small football field:
- You and another Team will form one alliance, facing off against an opposing two-team alliance.
- A match lasts 2 minutes, of which the first 15 seconds is an autonomous period in which robots operate and react only to sensor inputs and commands pre-programmed by teams. This is followed by 1 minute and 45 seconds of driver controlled play.
- The objective is to score as many of the 60 Triballs in the opposing alliance’s netted goal as possible.
- Beyond that, you can also score points for your robot completing 3 assigned tasks in the autonomous period, as well as achieving an elevation tier at the end of the match by having your robot at a height off the ground respective to the other robots.
- If all this sounds complicated, and it can be, we highly recommend you thoroughly read the manual!

Once you’ve made it to the world championship, that’s when it becomes a much more intense experience. The world championship is held at various locations (last year was Dallas, Texas) between late April and early May. It is typically a 6-8 day affair with multiple scrimmages, practice runs, qualifying matches, playoffs concluding with an award ceremony. Should you win, an incredibly impressive feat on its own, you won’t get a cash prize but you will automatically qualify for next year’s world championship. The prestige of victory aside, you and your team will also become top candidates for grants and scholarships from the REC and its sponsors for future attempts at the competition. 

What you need to know to win the VEX robotics competition

If all this has you rearing to go and build your own robot, here are a few things we recommend you keep in mind if you’re serious about competing:

1. Master the rules: If you haven’t gone through them yet, here they are. The VEX robotics competition has very specific performance and win conditions, and you need to be thoroughly aware of every possible way to score a point, because it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to do it all. When you’ll be competing at the world championship level, every single point will matter, as will what is allowed or not allowed in the construction of your robot and what minuscule advantage it may provide you.

2. Specialize in an area of robotics: There are multiple factors that go into building a winning robot. Your team will need expertise in mechanics, locomotion, design, electronics, electrical circuits, programming and strategy. It is impossible for a single person to do it all, so the more you are able to divide the tasks and bring your focused learning and skill sets together, the more likely you will be to succeed. There are a lot of resources provided by the REC to help you with each aspect of robotics, and it’s best if you’re able to divide the topics amongst each other as per your strengths and master as much of the resources as possible.

3. Design strategically: Remember that all teams are similarly restricted in what materials they can use, what motors and controllers are allowed, and the size specifications of their robots. What will help you win or lose is your strategy, and how effectively your robot is able to execute that strategy. Want to focus on scoring in the autonomous round? Make sure you have put a lot of effort into optimizing your sensors and developing excellent code. Want to win by elevation? Design a robust drive-train with a flexible, balanced and lightweight design. Simply want to power through with a pure score advantage? Then the speed and power of your robot’s drive-train along with the method of grabbing and moving the triballs will be key. Regardless of the approach or combination of the approaches you choose, try to specialize your robot accordingly.

4. Reliability is king: Regardless of how intricate and complex your robot’s design or how cool it looks, if it fails on the field, it’s game over. It might seem obvious, but a working robot is a winning robot, and a working robot takes a lot of work to design. Use mechanisms that are only as complex as the minimum required for the task, to absolutely minimize chances of failure. Build in failsafes if possible. Do not go for complexity for the sake of it.

5. Practice, practice, practice: Use the local level competitions to help you level up! Design your robot, register for a tournament and take it for a whirl. You might lose the first couple, but the experience of on-ground performance, tactics and troubleshooting will provide you with invaluable lessons that you can factor in to further refine and improve your robot.

6. Secure funding: If you’re going to participate in multiple tournaments, you’re going to need money. Whether it’s your school that sponsors you, or you find a grant via the REC, try and secure funding for your attempts. This will take a huge load off your collective shoulders, freeing you and your teammates to focus on the theory and practice of robot design so you can win, rather than having second thoughts on whether or not you can afford to compete.

7. Build alliances: It’s important to keep in mind that this year’s VEX Robotics Competition is a team-based game. Start reaching out to other teams with a clear pitch of what you bring to the alliance, and why you’re reaching out to that team. It’s important to shore up weaknesses and amplify strengths with your alliance partner to have the best possible chances of winning for both teams.

8. Find a coach: Robotics is a complex intersection of multiple fields of science. Having a seasoned coach or mentor, who is familiar with at least some or all of these subjects will be of tremendous value to you. They will be able to guide your studies and help you brainstorm solutions to the problems you will face while designing your robot.

9. Stay motivated: Like many large-scale competitions, VEX Robotics is more about persistence than anything else. Teams that win have a clear strategy, practice plenty, continuously improve and finetune their robots - essentially staying motivated and persistent with their goal. Don’t lose heart if you lose a tournament or two, use it as a learning experience instead. This is also why the previous three points are so important. A coach, a friendly team, a sponsor - all of these will go a long way in keeping you and your team motivated and focused towards your end goal.

Taking on the VEX Robotics Competition is one of the most challenging but worthwhile experiences you will have as a high schooler. Whether or not you win, you will inevitably enhance your knowledge of robotics, and strengthen your profile for college. Equip yourself with the right strategies and knowledge, and start putting together the robot to get a head start! 

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Image Source: VEX Robotics Competition Logo