MPMS Vex Robotics Club

1. MPMS Vex Robotics Club BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2013-2014

2. Basic Robotics Club Information • Club Sponsors: Mr. Travis Bower • The Club participates in the Vex robotics program: www.vexrobotics.com • Approximately 22 members assigned to 5 teams: 4 middle school teams, 1 high school team • Club will meet in Mr. Bower’s room on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and will learn and follow a basic engineering approach • Teams will works towards participation in competitions with the ultimate goal of reaching the World competition • Teams will participate in practice competitions and skills challenges • Students and parents are expected to volunteer with competitions in various ways, and to assist with Club fundraising

3. How Vex Games Are Played • Each year, at the end of the World competition in April, the new Game for the upcoming season is announced. • Games are played on a 12’x12’ field between two alliances (red and blue). Each alliance consists of two teams assigned to work together for that match. The alliance that scores the most points at the end of the match wins. • For each match, a coach and up to 2 drivers from each team participate. • Each match starts with a 15 sec autonomous period where robots are given a chance to score points using a pre-programmed script without driver control. • The autonomous period is followed immediately by 1 min 45 sec of driver controlled play. • For both driver controlled and autonomous play, there are often optional or required pre-loads. In this case, a ball must be positioned in a defined way on or near the robot prior to the start of the match. • There are also opportunities to participate in 60 sec Skills Challenge and Programming Skill Challenge events. Skills Challenges are driver controlled; Programming Skills Challenges are autonomous.

4. Vex 2013-2014 Game: Toss Up http://www.vexforum.com/wiki/index.php/Toss_Up There are multiple videos on youtube of the Toss Up game in action. Hanging Bar Large Ball Goals • The separation between the Goal Zone and Middle Zone is called the Barrier. It consists of a set of 12” high pipes under which robots can travel. • The separation between the Middle Zone and Hanging Zone is called the Bump. It consists of a 2” high bulge over which robots can travel. • The hanging bars are 40” high pipes from which robots can hang to earn points. Goal Zone Middle Zone Hanging Zone BuckyBall Start Tiles

5. Vex 2013-2014 Toss Up Scoring 1. Points for balls touching a zone or stashed in a goal: A ball is stashed in a goal if some part of it is within the space defined by the outer edges of the goal, and not being touched by a robot of the same color. Low hanging robot is not touching any foam field tile. 2. Points for hanging: High hanging robot is completely above the top of the field perimeter. 3. Points for autonomous: The Alliance with the most points at the end of the Autonomous Period, receives 10 bonus points.

6. Game Rules: Highlights • There are many specific rules for robots and for participation in matches. It is important to understand them because violation can result in disqualification during a competition. This slide just provides some highlights. Detailed rules can be found at: http://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/vex-toss-up/VEX-Toss-Up-GameManual_Rev053113.pdf. • Robots • Must be smaller than 18”x18”x18” to start • Must use only Vex Robotics Design System parts (a few exceptions are listed in the rules) • Competition Matches • Only drivers can operate the robot, coaches cannot touch controller • Drivers and coaches cannot touch the field elements or robot except as specified in the rules • Drivers and coaches must remain in their alliance station during the match • At the start of the match, the robot must be placed so that it is touching one of the starting tiles, and not touching any other field tile or the bump

7. How Vex Competitions Work • Competitions are generally performed in a tournament format. • The competition starts with Qualifying Matches. Teams are randomly assigned alliance partners. All teams participate in the same number of scored matches, usually 4-5. The objective of each match is to score the most points. • The teams on the winning alliance each receive 2 Win Points (WP). Losing alliance teams receive 0 WPs. A tie results in all teams receiving 1 WP. • The teams on the winning alliance each receive Strength of Schedule Points (SP) equal to the match score of the losing alliance. A tie results in all teams being awarded the same SPs. • After Qualifying Matches, top ranked teams are determined by most WPs. SPs and match scores are used to determine tie breakers. • Top ranked teams participate in Elimination Matches. These teams select their alliances from among all teams in the competition. Elimination Matches then take place in a playoff format. • At competitions, there are also opportunities to participate in 60 sec Skills Challenges and Programming Skill Challenges. Skills Challenges are driver controlled; Programming Skills Challenges are autonomous.

8. Additional Challenge Opportunities • At Vex game competitions, there are opportunities to win awards such as the Design Award (engineering notebook excellence), and various other judges awards. These may result in a chance to advance to state or world competitions. • Some competitions are specifically identified as Skills Challenge competitions. These provide opportunities for teams to score as many points as possible in 60 second driver controlled challenges. Skills challenges will take place throughout the state. The top 3 placed skills challenge teams across all Skills Challenges state-wide will earn bids to the state tournament. • Teams have the opportunity to participate in Online Design Challenges. These are described at: http://forum.robotevents.com/design/. There are 8 different options, and there are rules about how many can be submitted by each school. All submissions are due by January 14 at 6:00am.

9. Advancing to Worlds Qualifiers Jan-Feb local State Tournament February 22 Richmond area Skills Challenge January 17 local Roboticon March 1 local World Competition April 23-26 Anaheim, CA Online Challenges due January 13 Dates for competitions at which MPCS teams will participate are posted on the MPMS School Web site  Robotics Club page.