My team is new to robotics. Do you have any suggestions for what supplies we should buy? Thanks!
Here is a thread were we answered a similar question.
https://vexforum.com/t/vex-skyrise-essential-parts/26974/1&page=2
If you have no experience whatsoever and nobody experienced to help you, you might consider starting out by building the Clawbot, then expand from there. There are various kits that can help you with that.
http://www.vexrobotics.com/vex/products/classroom-and-competition-kits
Kudos for joining robotics!
Dido to what the others have been saying. Though I must ask, are you competing this year or using this year to gain some experience? (If you aren’t competing I would recommend attending a couple local VEX regionals to see what they are like.) Do you have PLTW courses at your school (assuming you are school based) to help you learn the material?
Sorry for the many questions. 
My team is sort of new too. We all have VEX experience because our robotics program uses VRC as JV and FRC as varsity, but people on the team tend to focus on FRC so VEX isn’t taken as seriously.
Sorry for the late reply but we do want to compete this year (though we need to hurry to build a robot)
We don’t have PLTW courses, but our club said that they would be doing a “mentor program,” although they have not given us many details.
Thanks for all the replies!
While you are probably not in Texas or a potential applicant for the grant, look on page 3 of the TWC grant FAQ which has parts that were supposed to have been specifically chosen to be able to build a competitive robot. You could probably build a robot to specialize in a specific task such as just a skyrise or just cubes for even less money, or perhaps using fewer or no sensors would save you money. here is the link that has the part numbers http://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2014/08/grant-information-texas-workforce-commission-faq.pdf
Ah, Yes. The Clawbot. Get some 1x2x1x35 c-channels and use those as the clawbot arm, and also use them to elevate the arm’s rotational axis to a point just below the 18’’ line. then, add some support on the back to stop it from tipping. wallah. Super-Clawbots, UNITE!
If you ever need any help ask us on here, on Twitter @cybrpirates7232, on Instagram @cyberpirates7232 or heck we could even Skype anytime to help too. Best advice we can give is always be open to learning and change! Use resources like forums to help get your feet wet!
Y’know, i happened upon a few interesting threads that could help you out a lot:
https://vexforum.com/t/answered-getting-opponents-skyrise-piece-from-the-floor/27146/1
These may be very important if you want to prepare for them.
