This
is our first year using VEX robots and
we have two teams, composed mostly of our
new skunks, building and competing with
them.
Our first competition
was held in Bellevue on November 7. Our
two teams competed in the VEX Jumpstart
tournament. We had a few bumps along the
way, but our teams performed well and showed
great professionalism. We were able to
advance into the qualifying tournament,
but did not make it to the semi-finals.
The game was called “Clean
Sweep” and was played on a 12’ by
12’ field. The field was divided
in half by an 11.5” wall. The game
was played with two teams, each team being
composed of two robots. The scoring system
works by getting small (green), medium
(orange), or large (white) balls into specified
goals or on the opposing team’s field. The
team gains one point for each green ball
on the opposing team, five points for each
orange ball, and ten points for each white
ball.
The game starts with
a fifteen-second autonomous period where
the human drivers are unable to control
their robots. Instead, the robots move
around on their own based on the installed
program. Afterwards, the humans are
finally able to control their robots for
two minutes, trying to finish what the
autonomous period started. The team with
the most points wins.
The design and strategies
that were built into the robot play a major
factor on deciding who will win the match. Whether
the robot is designed to block balls that
the opposing team launches at them, or
simply shooting the balls over the wall
at top speed. All robots playing in the
match have to play to their strengths and
teamwork is very important. Since there
are two robots on each alliance, team members
must communicate with each other well in
order to succeed in winning the match.
Also, since team members change after every
match, they have to be able to modify their
own strategies to work with all possible
methods of play.
- For more details on VEX robots, see
their main
page.
- For competition locations, see details here.
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