Also explains the extra $25 for registration lol.
I think they mean you can’t have more than 3 bucky balls in your intake at one time. But i really dislike this rule. Hope they get rid of it.
Well I’m rather confused because the definition of possession states
By driving over the bump and pushing the bucky balls into the middle zone, I am technically herding them, and would count as possession. So if I already had 3 bucky balls in my intake, then I would have violated this rule.
That’s wrong and right. But you’re UNINTENTIONALLY herding them. You are intentionally trying to cross the barrier. So I would say that rule does not apply.
The herding will probably be reffed much like Breakaway was in 2010 for FRC. If you have 3 bucky balls, and you push one while driving, as long as you’re not purposefully moving it to a desired place, I’m guessing it will be fine.
Also, knowing all the great guys at VEX and IFI, does everyone really think they won’t be coming out with any new VEX products? Maybe they just want to wait to talk about them until they’re ready for purchase. Have some faith in the VEX engineers, they are pretty good at what they do after all.
-Nick
I hope they release new products. We could use some new toys to play with. 
I don’t know when they’re going to get back to VRC, but in a year or two they managed to come up with an entirely new robotics system. I think if they put their minds to Vex parts we’ll get something pretty special.
Is it a good Idea to make a 12" or less robot to get under the bridge. Or make something that will be able to throw the big balls and bucky balls to the other side and using the bigger height for the climb?
y not both? 
Go over the Bridge.
Explain to me how you can go over the bridge without potentially breaking the bridge. Going over the bridge seems, to me, to be very similar to going over the troughs this past year–doing so would be illegal under the “don’t pose a threat to the field” rule. Not 100% sure, of course…
It’s certainly more feasible than last year, since the barrier is nearly 5" lower - 13.1" rather than 17.9". Also the tops of the posts between the troughs (and the sacks in the troughs) made climbing over them more difficult and this year the barrier is a uniform height.
It’s still probably not that feasible though since it would probably require some sort of multi-stage climbing over process and take up a lot of time. It would be really fun to see someone try it with a 24" robot in college though.
That’s one way. We have a different one that’s in the works.
VEX IQ> FLL
VEX is beginning to dominate the competitive robotics scene in every which way.
Quality products with good customer support tend to dominate. Even when VEX produces something that is not up to par they don’t pull an Apple and deny it, they work to fix the problem. I have a bag of replacement gears that wont fit over the pilot shaft, I can gaurantee that if I walk into IFI and hand them to Eli I will leave with good parts and not excuses.
I remember when IFI was Tony, Rob, and Tom Watson working out of a small hole in the wall in a strip shopping center. It is the fact that this company was born from the spark of genius of 2 mentors with a passion for educational robotics that has catapulted them beyond a corporation looking for a profitable item to sell to school kids.
VEX doesn’t persue profits, they pursue their passion and that fuels success. They continue to chase that Unicorn and bring us some really cool stuff in the process. (Yes, I listen to Karthik too much :D).
I loved the large number of snide comments about vex not releasing better motors or anything that benefitted the people in attendance.
I never said that VEX was all about profit. Both FIRST and VEX vigilantly and admirably stand by their support of educational robotics. I think that both programs provide their own advantages, FRC being a large-scale robotics competition while VEX is certainly much more affordable for its size and whatnot.
However, it just seems to me that the heads of VEX just care MORE. Like you said, VEX pumps out cool stuff because of their passion and as a result, are really interested in how the students interact with the robots, the game, and the community. The games are (almost) always fresh and challenging, and the season allows you to start the new game right after Worlds. This also allows for a much more extensive design process with the VEX platform.
TL;DR While FIRST has its benefits (FRC) I think the only thing FIRST will really have going for them in the future is just FRC because of its uniqueness and challenge. Its clear that VEX dominates the medium-sized robotics competitions and with VEX IQ I just foresee VEX taking over the elementary school crowds as well, dominating not just middle and high-school medium-sized robotics competitions but elementary schools as well.
I think first is awesome in every aspect, I was talking about the hardware ie Legos. My sons first robot kit was a mindstorms set that was impossible to keep together and there was no support. I think FRC and all of the first stuff is phenomenal. We would also compete in FRC if we had the money and access to a machine shop.