This is our team first year. We have two teams because of the number of students participating. Both teams have their own parts to build their own bots. However, both teams have settled on a design that is the same. The rules don’t seem to say anything about each team having a bot that is the same as the other. However, I would like to be sure before showing up at competition to have one of the teams disqualified. Can anyone give me any clarification on this?
This is fine, as long as they don’t both use the same robot, they are allowed to have identical bits tho
2 Likes
Each team should have their own individual robot that is different from each other. I don’t know what the judges would think if two teams had the same robot. My team personally has 2 robots but we only participate one at a time and they are very different.
You probably won’t win many judged awards because the bots are copies, but there is nothing preventing both bots from competing
6 Likes
As long as they aren’t completely identical. They can be if the same idea (traybot, DR4B Claw, etc.), but they can’t be replicas if each other.
1 Like
Your robots could be the exact same screw for screw so long as it wasn’t built by anyone not on your team. I don’t recommend trying that though.
4 Likes
The vast majority of robots this year are very similar. And starting two teams, especially rookie teams, is actually a pretty good idea. However, allow the individual teams to make modifications as they see fit afterwards or during that build process. Copy-bots aren’t the best, but can be a good starting point for rookie teams. Encourage them to innovate upon that base design after though.
5 Likes
The question “is it legal” must be answered by looking in the game manual (https://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/vrc-tower-takeover/GameManual-20190816.pdf) because the game manual (along with the official Q&A) is the only source of rules and what is “legal.” You noted yourself that the rules don’t say it is legal or not; therefore, it is perfectly legal to have a “clonebot.”
The better question is “should you use ‘clonebots’?” That is the discussion you’re getting the most of in this thread. I won’t add to the discussion other than saying unless the Judges make a mistake and don’t see the clones, you won’t likely receive any judged awards, however it is perfectly legal for teams to compete with identical robots…even the VEX trainer (basic robot/clawbot) designs.
9 Likes
Think of it this way, if you couldn’t have identical robots, clawbots or other vex bots w/ instructions would be banned
6 Likes
While it is legal, it is also frowned upon. Vex wants each team to learn from the bot, and if teams are cloning another bot from their organization, it takes away from the experience. Similar bots and designs are fine, but sometimes you see organizations that have bots that are exactly the same.
7 Likes
It’s in the rule book, the answer is no.
Which rule is that, may I ask?
2 Likes
That’s using the same robot, as in the same physical thing
2 Likes
These teams were pretty boss at worlds, and they all had mostly the same robot. Are duplicate robots legal? Definitely. Are they the best case scenario, most favoured, and supreme strategy? Probably not. Will duplicate robots always work? No. You could argue that having duplicate robots increases the chances that your teams will all do bad. If you feel that having very closely similar robots is what you want to do, go for it! 
4 Likes
Closely similar bots and clone bots are two different things, this year it will be pretty hard to avoid closely similar bots due to the meta, but clone bots are avoidable.
2 Likes
Exact copies are frowned upon, but legal. You probably won’t get any judged awards tho.
2 Likes
The teams are allowed identical sub-systems, however you can NOT have 2 identical robots.
Here’s what the Judges Guide says:
The RECF Student-Centered Policy is probably worth reading as well.
20 Likes
Just 
think of clawbots
4 Likes
If you’re going to make a statement like this, you need to cite the game manual, otherwise it’s just your opinion.
10 Likes