How many of you guys think that you may use your VEX knowledge study and get a job as a robotic engineer or programmer?
I feel like vex has introduced students to cool possible career paths, and if a kid enjoys to program on the team, they might consider computer science as a career. Or if a kid loves to build they might consider engineering. So when you say vex knowledge, I donât think any certain specific things that I learned I would use to get a job, but I would use the interest that vex has caused me to develop to pursue a degree or a certification that I can use to help me get a job that I would enjoy.
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Vex definitely teaches some stuff like basic mechanisms ( 4 bar, cascade etc.) and some physics knowledge like torque / speed and compression, as well as weight and friction. However, it probably doesnât teach super technical stuff like frc does.
Onto the programming side, I really donât think vex teaches that much programming. The code really isnât that complicated and doesnât teach things like algorithms. For some reason in a team with 3 programmers, none of them know how a for loop works and have to ask me (not a vex programmer) to tutor them for a computer science class.
I think the most important thing vex teaches you is the ability to think out of the box. Vex components, are definitely very limited and youâll need to use some imagination to make things work. For example, vexâs bevel gear are pretty garbage, so people made bevel gears using large gears and screws; vex doesnât have a shifter for speed transmissions, so teams designed their own using pneumatic ; Teams in vex often use pulleys for holding rubber bands or on bases for smoother glide rather than with a winch. These are all good examples of thinking out of the box creativity with limited components, and are essential for innovations.
Also, vex can make you know if youâre interested in the field or not. You can always learn the technical knowledge later on in your life, but u gotta make sure that youâre interested in it first or else youâll just suffer.
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have you tried the vex educators course? I have almost finished the vex iq educators course and it really isnt that hard
I was referring mainly to CAD certifications like the solidworks or Autocad ones that students can do
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It certainly can. Vex and the depth of knowledge needed for development is what you make of it, and I think that corresponds (to a degree) as success on the field. That doesnât just apply to Vex either. The former World Champions (the Pilons) have shown time and time again just how far you can push the limitations of Vex parts and it can closely emulate the real work environment.
Iâll say this. I did 3 years of Vex in high school and that prompted me in choosing to major in mechanical engineering. A lot of the thought process that I was forced to learn in failing hundreds of times through a Vex season is taught in my courses. Of course, in school itâs spoon fed to you so thatâs a bit different. Nonetheless, for me at least, Vex has given me a foundation and intuition for engineering. I find that I enjoy my classes more because I can already appreciate the implications of what Iâm learning through my experience in Vex. Most people who havenât had that experience canât say the same.
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i am a studentâŚ
im only 12- i cant even sign up to robotevents yet 
students can take the vex iq educators course as well
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yes there are many courses and certifications available for students to do. That is the awesome thing about vex, is that it really helps students to do something that they love and potentially translate that into a possible career path.
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pretty sure youâre violating the ToS then lol
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no its not- i put my real D.O.B and i was allowed
Most people will take the skills they either discovered or further refined in VEX and go out into the world and use them for non-robotics things.
I went to Google as a Software Engineer and I work on low-level tools that keep the Google fleet alive.
My friend Catherine who did FRC went off to WPI, got a bunch of degrees (I believe one BS and two MSâs) and went to Apple where she runs a small team doing manufacturing automation stuff in China related to the Apple watch and iPhone.
Her sister went off to be the CTO of a drone startup.
Her ex-BF briefly interned at Boston Dynamics (I forget his name).
Skyler went to Microsoft, not sure what he does but I know heâs an SE.
My friend Camaron who did VEX with me is a med student.
Katie (fellow VRC member) became a civil engineer after struggling with calc 2 and getting some bad advice from a counselor. She wanted to do EE.
Paul Draper (aced the SAT in my graduating class, got a massive scholarship from the military, did FRC with us one season), nearly got into MIT, didnât, forget where he went but heâs now doing a medical startup.
I could go on, but no industry does not look like VEX or FIRST or Battlebots, itâs much more boring but thatâs OK. You can always continue to play robots on your own, with your children, etc. I still insist that Minecraft is about as valuable as VEX so you can always do that. I learned most of the computer logic course I took in undergrad from stuff I made in redstone back in the day lol.
In general though, Iâm learning really fast how much the stuff you learn in HS or college or grad school does not map directly onto say a job or a company, startup, or wealth generation in general. These are all different things which require very specific knowledge that is often picked up as you go.
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The problem I have with this statement is that vex isnât the one teaching you, the competition isnât meant to do that. Vex and the RECF facilitate an environment in which students can teach themselves. You cant really blame vex for ânot teaching kids programming,â atleast not the way you are doing it. You can get onto vex for simplifying complicated things down in a way that restricts their usability, but the things you list arenât really a good criticism of VRC.
I think Vex has facilitated a great environment for kids to innovate both through mechanics and software. I personally have not learned a single thing about how to be competitive in VRC from Vex, the RECF, or for that matter anything other than my own personal research. The problem you mention about vex not teaching programming isnât a vex problem, thatâs a problem with your programmers (I have no intention to demean your programmers or make them look bad). You will find in the higher levels of VRC that control systems such as motion profiling, odometry, and other complex control algorithms are quite commonplace, and really arenât that far behind the industry. The problem you are experiencing isnât about vex not teaching them programming, itâs about themselves not teaching them programming.
(Also why in the world do you have 3 programmers, I think even Pilons had one that did most if not all of the programming in ITZ, including odometry algorithms, on a 10 or so person team. Also someone from Pilons please correct or expand upon this statement if need be)
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I believe the program was worked on throughout multiple season but refined and finalized in ITZ (so it was in fact a group project but it might notâve been a continuous group project)
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makes sense, considering how thoroughly game changing it was for most teams
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thats where im aiming to go to study computer science 
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i believe in you mrbanjo you will win worlds and go to mit uou can do it i wisg you luck mr banjo
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good luck to to you too for the season ahead!
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A lot of people here talking about having robotics lead you into various STEM disciplines. I will add you can also go directly into Robotics.
I pursued a degree from WPI in Robotics Engineering. Now I am working on a PhD in Robotics Track at the University of Utah. I definitely plan on doing Robotics for the rest of my life.
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Yeah, vex has definitely shaped our teamâs future. we graduated this year and we are all going to university. While me personally not really because vex kinda turned me away from studying engineering but thatâs a different topic, hereâs what some of our orgâs alumni are studying:
mechanical engineering at purdue
aeronautical engineering at purdue
robotics technology at purdue
more engineering at purdue, too many to keep track of
computer science at iupui
mechanical engineering at northwestern
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