The Nuts and Bolts for Robotics Team to Sweep The VEX Robotics World Championships This Year

Yamen El-Refaie

There are several ways to qualify for the world competition. While it is possible to qualify for world’s just by being a champion in a tournament, it is more difficult to get nominated without a high-quality notebook. In fact, some nominations require it. In an engineering notebook, one records what each member has done that day in detail. This is helpful if team members need to go back to fix something or use ideas for  future inspiration. If a team member is missing that day, another member can use the notebook to carry on their work.

Last year, the CVHS Robotics team was kept from victory when a band on their apparatus broke, keeping them from scoring any more points. This year, the team is working hard to make sure nothing stands in their way of winning. Each member spends at least 6 hours each week working on their robot. Some even work 12 hours a week before competitions.

This year’s competition is the “Tower Takedown.” According to the official Vex Robotics website, each round will take place on a 12’ x 12’ square field, where there will be two alliances – one “red” and one“blue” – composed of two teams each. Alliances compete in matches consisting of a fifteen-second Autonomous Period, followed by a 1 minute and 45 second-Driver-Controlled Period. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by placing cubes in the towers or scoring cubes in the goals.

There are 66 Cubes on a Tower Takeover Field. (22 green, 22 purple, and 22 orange.) There are 7 towers placed around the field. 5 of these are neutral, with the remaining two being alliance specific. Alliance specific Towers may only be utilized by robots of the same alliance. Example layout below.

The team’s robots can place the cubes in the towers, or score in the goals. Cubes are worth at least 1 point when placed in a goal zone. The exact value of each cube is determined by how many cubes of that specific color have been placed in towers. When Cubes are Placed in or removed from Towers, the new values apply to ALL cubes. So the actions of one Robot will impact the potential score for both their own alliance and their opponents.

The alliance that scores more points in the Autonomous Period is awarded with bonus points, added to the final score at the end of the match. The Alliance who wins this Autonomous Bonus is also awarded 2 purple cubes, which may be introduced at any time during the driver control period.