This is a great community here, supporting and encouraging one another. We are a rookie team with 4- graders and in fact out first robotics club . Team is a bit curious to know what’s the general grades that compete? From volunteering videos it seems to be elementary- middle. Any feedback/ suggestions for competition day would be great. Also does the notebook have to be hand written or can be printed doc portfolio?
Thanks
Well, I know high schools do compete, but it depends what you competing in.
V5,PRO,EXP,IQ
I don’t think the handbook has to be handwritten
The knowledge base is a good place to start. On the VIQC side, the links look like this. The videos seem to be of metal robots, but most of the concepts are the same. There’s a section on notebooks a little way down the page.
Elementary IQ competitions tend to be 2nd through 5th graders. MS IQ allows up to 8th graders (this is by birthday, so grade level is typical). If you’re at a blended event, you would have teams from both grade levels.
My advice for 1st competition would be to go through the game manual with your team, make sure they understand the rules, and make sure that their robot will pass inspection. Find the inspection checklist, and help them check size and all of the other requirements. If their robot will pass inspection and they have an idea of how to score some way, they’ll be a great 1st time team. They should expect to be randomly paired with a number of partners throughout the qualification part of the tournament, and cooperating with their partners is the best part of the teamwork competition. Help them have fun, and help them expect to fail many times and do their best to cheerfully overcome those failures.
There are two notebook formats this year. One is online electronic notebooking and the other is in person notebooks with paper submission. Robotevents.com will have the tournament you’re attending listed. In the judging format tab, you’ll see how the notebooks must be submitted (and a upload deadline for electronic ones). If you have a paper notebook and the tournament has online submissions, the coach would scan the notebook and upload it by the submission deadline. If your team uses electronic format, they’d print out a copy and bring it to an event with in person notebook judging. This year teams are allowed either hand written or typed notebooks, so either works. If you find the judges guide, you can see rubrics and the judging process in detail.
There’s also a skills competition at most events. This includes one team driving for the highest score and also a programmed skills run. If your team is ready, have them try that. If it is too much for the 1st competition, no problem. There’s an appendix in the game manual that describes rules differences for skills runs.
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Assuming you’re on the US/similar school system, 6th graders through 12th graders generally compete.
Thank you, we are competing in VexIQ. Hopefully there will be only elementary kids in competition.
This is helpful information. I will review the robot event site for documentation. Thanks for prompt response.
Use the Internet to research ideas and remember that it took those people on the Internet at least 2 months to build that bot.
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Most MS kids are super supportive of elementary competitors. Some elementary teams can compete head to head with their older counterparts. Even if the level of the average competitor is higher, those stronger teams are also inspiring, good teachers, and they can help newer teams understand the game in ways adults can’t. In your early events, don’t expect your kids to win stuff. It isn’t important. Their goal is to learn what they don’t know and how to get better. If winning is in their future, it comes through this process. Either way, the value of competition robotics is exactly in showing up, failing, overcoming failure, and learning how to do better. A blended tournament might be an even better place to do this. I’ve seen 8th grade teams getting pulled over to younger kid’s pits and doing a Q&A session on robot design/build.
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We are able to dispense all discs out , but our challenge is to collect the discs from purple dispenser. We have fly wheel working but unable to mount the basket. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful !
Try putting the basket right above the flywheels, and then a ramp that you use to slide the discs down.