Design award presentation advice?

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC
#1

Hi! I’m a designer from a team that began robotics last season. I’ve already worked for an ample amount of time on our design book but am not quite sure on how to create a presentation for our judge interview (our first in-person tournament is in about two weeks).

Should we create a slideshow to illustrate our explanation, or should we simply decide beforehand what we are going to speak on and how we will answer questions together?

#2

welcome to the community :smiley:

By designer what does that mean? does it mean you do the note book? do you do cad and build stuff?

Judge interview is not really meant to be a presentation but rather a place to show off your knowledge and design idea and decisions.

I wouldn’t suggest creating a slideshow or presentation. Allowing for everyone on the team to participate and talk during the interview also important.

deciding before and on what subjects that each individual can talk about is perfectly fine as it helps ensure that everyone participates and shows off what they have learned.

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#3

There should be no ‘presentation’; the judges will be doing an interactive interview and won’t have much (if any) time to look at anything extra. It is mainly based on your team answering questions together. You should have the robot handy and point out (or potentially try to demonstrate) specific items as you discuss them in the interview. You could possibly have a few additional quick visual aids to use in your discussion of certain information (such as pictures or diagrams), but don’t over-do it (and they really aren’t necessary).

I highly recommend you go to the judges’ guide and look at the Interview rubric, as this will let you know what sort of information the judges are looking for if you end up getting a Design Award interview. Hopefully you’ve already looked extensively at the Engineering Notebook rubric for your notebook! Sit with your team beforehand and make sure everyone knows what the judges are looking for and what specific items that you want to make sure to bring to their attention. If you think you should qualify for a specific award (outside of the DA, which uses the rubric), make sure you bring up information relevant to that award.

A couple random extra tips:

  • Make sure everyone on the team is prepared to participate verbally in some form (even the ones who don’t like to talk much, or don’t think they have much to say).
  • A second (or more) interview is a GOOD THING!!! NEVER turn it down, if you are wanting to be a judged award contender! One would think that was pretty obvious, but… as a judge, I’ve had it happen more than once.
    (Everyone gets a mini-interview, Design Award contenders get a more in-depth interview, and if you are getting more than one interview you are highly likely to be in consideration for something, with more judges trying to get a feel for contending teams so they can make a better decision.)
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#4

Here we go:

https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2020/06/engineering-notebook-and-team-interview-rubric.pdf/

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#5

Thanks! I work on the notebook, do sketches, work on CAD, and sometimes assist our builder. I will make sure to communicate with my team and make sure we do this, thank you!

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#6

Yes, I have reviewed the rubric and am making sure that all members on our team understand this and are prepared to contribute during judging. Our team will (hopefully) be prepared for an interview by the time we have to give one now, thanks!

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#7

When giving the interview, make sure to have your entire team present and participating. Make sure they understands the ins and outs of your robot so you and your team can answer the judges’ questions to the best of your ability. Perhaps practice describing your robot so you can speak clearly and without any “hiccups” like an erm, an um, or a like? Really, just practice speaking in general. Answering interview questions from others like your coach or peers might be a good idea.

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