Vex has stated multiple designs that one of their design philosophies with new games is to make them recyclable. However, I have seen this only truly implemented in IQ, usually with 50% or more of the field being IQ parts that can be used for robot construction. Contrast that with VRC, where basically none of the field gets recycled effectiveley (most recycling will just result in incineration when done by leaving it in a bin.) I propose that Vex allows teams to use components that made up previous years games to be used in robot construction. This would be limited, however. As much as I want to machine metal, it is very likely and justifiable that they would ban things like the metal plates in the mogos, so the rule would exclude metallics, and additionally it would exclude any previous field elements that resemble existing ones, so no Round Up rings in High Stakes, for example. I think this would allow for some really neat innovations in Vex, and it also allows for an avenue for retiring teams to make a little more bang for their buck instead of just disposing of old elements.
Well, I think you are confused between recyclable reusable/repurposed…
So most of the Game Elements are made of recyclable material, but you will need to bring it to proper facility that will accept such plastics. Not all towns/city do.
As for reusable, VEX has made metal field plates usable over an over and not something you purchase every season.
As for repurposing for robots, a lot of the clear plastic is legal to you on robots.
Finally, we put a lot of effort to use Game elements past their season use - for example Star Struck fences we used for crow control (fence off areas), made freebie golf for PE using Spin Up discs and Tipping Point mobile goals. We have students make planters pencil holders, and even drive station posts for competition.
I would be against using parts on robots, inspectors already have tons to consider when inspecting robots.
The last time this happened was Tipping point, 3 years ago at this point.
Thats great, but I imagine this is not something most teams will do.
This is true. I feel it may be justifiable to have a seperate sheet that highlights controversial/complex stuff such as this however, as this would also help with other potential difficulties.
I’ve wondered about this topic a bit as well. @Entropy made a valid point to consider - repurpose or recycle
Something to consider is how we can distribute old materials (in good condition) like game elements, kits to new schools which may not have funding to purchase new materials each year.
Secondly for the VEX team would be to challenge themselves to incorporate an iterative design concept where elements are built upon each year. Like our robots they can be built into anything… why not consider the elements to be more of an iterative design. Not sure if that makes sense