Just a thought came to me - how about allowing VRC HS teams to register for VEXU?
RECF generally allow younger students to play up. I have always find it puzzling that this “playing up” stopped at VRC HS.
The pros of allowing VRC HS to play up and register for VEXU will be:
The current rules for VRC can remain as it is.
Higher performance and/or higher ability and/or better funded teams can try their hands on 3DP and electronics, etc in the VEXU category. Those that think they are not ready to make the jump can stay on in VRC.
By having some higher performing HS teams to cross over to VEXU, maybe… just maybe… it might release a bit of pressure off the limited (and always not enough) worlds spots for VRC HS?
In the big picture, the VEX AI program is the place for higher performance HS teams. If Covid hadn’t happened, perhaps AI wouldn’t have had such a slow start, and would sound like a better option.
There’s a lot more about a college team/club to consider besides the robot… just a couple examples: HS students usually have much more time to dedicate to robotics than college students, but college students often have much more flexibility on their time because they are adults. It’s also hard to explain, but the U-team competition has a different “feel”… there’s more community, corporation, and comradery among the teams that I’m not sure HS students would fit into.
Also, how would a HS team feel about having only one one or two competitions all season, for which they have to travel 3-6 hours + hotel to attend?
But I do think the focus of VEXAI and VEXU (or VRC) are different? VEXAI obviously is going to be big on programming and sensors, etc. But VEXAI is not as heavy in programming as VEXAI - so it might actually be more platable for HS students.
Think it will be the same issue as joining VEXAI?
Yup… this is true though. Something that I didn’t consider.
Or… how abt… a different VRC division or category that is based on VEXU rules?
The potential spinoff could be more events for VEXU teams as well… and hopefully more VEXU teams in a longer view.
There’s enough random programs as it is. RADC, the factory automation competition, VEX AI, JROTC is kinda its own thing, the Bell Vertical Robotics Competition, VRAD.
Got a notice this week that they were refunding registrations for AI for this season. A few teams have been asked to be part of a beta program that will have a test event at IFI this summer. With any luck the real stuff will happen next season. I know several people from RECF and VEX are disappointed that they could not make it work for this year.
My following point may be weak, but I think there is something to be said with how much time students of VRC HS and VEXU teams put into their robots. VEXU teams usually do not have the luxury to prototype and build multiple robots for a final competition robot like HS teams do as they are focusing on what is more important: University. If HS teams were allowed to compete in VEXU, the circumstances around the teams would differ greatly and we would probably see HS teams win VEXU tournaments. For example, I believe during Tower Takeover, 7K got the highest skills score in the world, even compared to VEXU (where during that year, there were 2 robots for skills). Pilons also would have been in the top 5 for VEXU skills with just one robot. Now of course I am straw manning this to an extreme level, relating this to top tier teams, but I do believe that if top HS teams competed with two robots in VEXU, they would destroy the competition. This is not a knock on VEXU teams, but it is a fact that HS teams put more time into their robot’s strategy and design.
From the fall of 2007 to June of 2017, I was in every single game design meeting at VEX and was a part of and sat through every single painfully long discussion on the potential legality of 3D printing. Not once did the argument of “we can’t legalize 3D printed parts, we’d lose money” come up. Literally never. The discussion always centered around whether legalizing 3D printing would further the gap between the top 10% of teams and the other 90%. That gap was already larger than most were comfortable with, and increasing it further risked alienating school based teams who typically compete with their original kit and few to no additional accessories (and definitely did not have access to 3D printers).
As for where these discussions have gone in the past 5 years, I don’t know. 3D printers are more readily available than they were in 2017. As they become more common in classrooms, I would assume the likelihood of 3D printed parts becoming legal increases.
Based on discussions with RECF I’ve had since then, it’s a combination of the 10% / 90% gap and that most of the mentors/coaches are against it. (I’ve tried for the last 4 years to get 3D printing)
I was not too keen back in pre-covid days, but these 2 years of covid has changed the tech landscape considerably.
Most likely the opinions of the mentors/coaches might have changed as well.
Think 3D printing is common and cheap enough to worth another look at it.
You would need to go to the Facebook group of mentors/coaches and start asking over there. According to my conversations with RECF, that is the block of people they hear most from about this issue.
