New Team Questions - Supplies, Grants, Registration?

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC
1

Hello VEX Forum,

We're a new HS team this year from Houston, TX and I have a bunch of questions that I was hoping people (especially in Houston, TX) could help Answer.

--Where do most VEX teams get their parts/supplies or does VEX already have a pre-determined list to follow? Or is it just estimating what you need and buying some surplus? I feel like the VEX website's classroom/competition kit is a bit overpriced,

http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexedr/products/kits-and-bundles

but the supplies that it includes seem like a decent list, although we may need more rails/bumpers.

--Does VEX have a common list for grants or do we need to find specific organizations that are willing to provide grants for first-year teams? Does anyone have a good recommendation? But most importantly, how long does it usually take for these applications to be processed?

--After registering two teams with my school, is it still possible to add more teams later? Or do all teams for this season/school have to be registered at once?

  Thanks in Advance! I'd really appreciate any tips or tricks that experienced teams may have, and I wish you all good luck this season!
2

The vex parts below:
http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexedr/products/overview?ref=tile
are all official vex parts. You are only allowed official vex parts on your robot. That said, there are a few exceptions, which you can find in the rule book.
But, there are third party vendors, who sell vex parts directly from vex like Robomesh:
[http://www.robotmesh.com/vex-robotics/

Obviously each vendor has different caveats, and you need to find what works best for you.

We found in our region that robomesh has faster shipping (I don’t know about Texas though)

As for the price, while there are discounts every now and then, you should expect vex to be quite expensive. Since you are a high school team, I realize your budget will be limited, so I recommend finding sponsors.](http://www.robotmesh.com/vex-robotics/)

3

Yes, you can add teams as the season progresses. I’ve seen new teams register in December, for example, and do very well. I’m guessing you can register new teams right up until your state competition or even the Worlds competition, if you really want to, and if nothing else, you can participate in Skills events. Of course the only drawback to forming a team later in the year is that you might find it harder to find tournaments that still have slots open for you.

One great advantage to being a new team this year is that a small, lightweight, simple robot has the chance of being lifted fairly easily, and that’s worth 50 points. :slight_smile:

4

Check with your RECF representative although they have had grants more for IQ lately as VRC has gotten quite large.

Find yours here:

I would try local businesses first. We tap any parents who work for companies looking for money and have gotten $3500 this way this year. Other companies who are in engineering fields want to promote STEM related activities too. We got money from Sikorsky helicopters too.

You can also tap the grant front but it requires a lot of legwork, constant sets of surveys, and keeping statistics and making it more of a structured learning program vs just competing.

If you are officially from the school you have tax exempt status by being under them, if not it can be harder to get money from schools. We incorporated a few years ago as Brandywine Robotics and waited and waited for our 501c3 paperwork (it was right in the middle of that IRS scandal about non-profits too but we snuck through!). Now we have a tax form and more records to keep (not just for government but for the referenced above grants too).

5

As others have said, VEX parts are expensive, and VEX resellers are not allowed to offer discounting on official VEX product; however there are a couple resellers who offer free shipping on orders over $50…so that’s kind of like getting a discount. Occasionally someone sells used VEX stuff on Ebay, but be careful buying any electronics, because you only want the current cortex and VEXnet keys for competition.

I’ve done some price analysis to get the best deals on bundles, and here they are, in order of value:

[LIST=1]
*]Super Kit, 276-3000, save $332 over individual parts
*]Classroom mech & prog, 276-2800/2900, save $191 each over individual parts
*]Programming control starter, 276-2750, save $188 over individual parts
*]Dual control starter, 276-2700, save $137 over individual parts
*]Clawbot kit, 276-2600, save $67 over individual parts
*]Booster kit, 276-2232, save $50 over individual parts
*]Metal & Hardware kit, 276-2161, save $45 over individual parts
[/LIST]

If I had to start a team on a budget, I’d suggest the Dual control starter kit, which is complete with batteries/chargers and VEXnet stuff. (Important: the Clawbot kit by itself has no batteries!), next, add the Booster Kit.

If you look at the games over the years, the game design always makes it possible for even the stock clawbot to at least score a few points, if that is all a new team brings to an event, so it’s not a bad place to start. This year, a rookie team could modify a clawbot to handle balls better, and the clawbot itself is light and easy to lift for 25-50 points.

6

The REC Foundation has a multitude of different grants available that are typically processed pretty quickly. Take a look:

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but the supplies that it includes seem like a decent list, although we may need more rails/bumpers.

--Does VEX have a common list for grants or do we need to find specific organizations that are willing to provide grants for first-year teams? Does anyone have a good recommendation? But most importantly, how long does it usually take for these applications to be processed?

--After registering two teams with my school, is it still possible to add more teams later? Or do all teams for this season/school have to be registered at once?

  Thanks in Advance! I'd really appreciate any tips or tricks that experienced teams may have, and I wish you all good luck this season!

You’ve come to the right place. :slight_smile: There’s tons of information on the forum and you can learn a lot by searching around. You can also just go in google and add site:www.vexforum.com to the end of your search to search the forum.

You can only use official VEX Parts and identical replacements as well as some extra items listed in rule R7. As has already been said, VEX’s prices are the same everywhere, but some resellers like iDesign and Robotmesh offer free shipping. I’m pretty sure iDesign dropships all orders from VEX in Texas, so you’ll probably get UPS ground the next day. Also take a look at our site Robosource.net (click the sig image below) for items like Polycarbonate and low cost alternatives to save some money.

This thread has some info on parts for a starting team: https://vexforum.com/t/what-to-buy-for-a-new-team/23992/1

Others have already answered your question about registering teams, however also keep in mind that you need to register for your competitions and these have limited spots, so make sure you don’t wait too long or the event may already be full.

In addition to the grants Karthik posted the link to, most teams receive sponsorships from local organizations or do various fundraising activities. Here’s some threads with some ideas to get you started:
https://vexforum.com/t/fundraiser-ideas/28789/1
https://vexforum.com/t/how-does-your-team-do-fundraising/23958/1
http://challenges.robotevents.com/challenge/18/entry/506

There’s also some official fundraising programs from VEX and RECF:
http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexedr/contact/fundraising/
[http://www.roboticseducation.org/for-participants/electronics-recycling-program/

Good luck!](http://www.roboticseducation.org/for-participants/electronics-recycling-program/)

8

Send me a PM. I would be happy to connect and introduce your team to the Houston robotics community.