Next year, I will sadly not be able to take the class period for robotics next year and have though of something. Is there any way you can start a team from home and play at tournaments? And if so, what is the cheapest way I could do VEX Robotics at my house and be “competition ready”?
There are many community teams around the world that aren’t associated with schools. You would however have to pay for everything, which entails all of your parts, registration for tournaments and to be a team, and any other things you may need which is extremely pricey if you are just doing it yourself. I would rec cinema trying to find a community team near you
Say if money wasn’t an issue. What would be the best bundle for parts?
None, just order what you need when you need it.
I started with 16 Motors, a cortex, loads of aluminum, one set of all of the wheels, 1K nuts & bolts, 12 packs of standoffs, 4 boxes of rubber bands, and some other assorted stuff.
Price?
Uhhh I’m not sure, like 2.5K ish.
Dang
Check this out Grant Opportunities | FIRST
Not vex and you’d unlikely qualify for a grant as a team of 1 but if costs are holding you back it might be worth looking into.
The figure @Harrison2 suggests is pretty accurate for getting started and can easily be higher.
You also may want at least 1 teammate to share the workload, catch your stupid ideas, fill your weaknesses, and in most competitions it is useful to have more than 1 person on the drive team and a scout is nice as well…
1103 managed it somehow ;). We can’t all be gods, though.
If your school has a robotics team, talk to your robotics teacher and see if he/she will let you participate outside of school. My school does not allow a robotics elective for various reasons, so we work 3-5 (2-5 on Fridays) and weekends and days off, and it works great for us. You will also have much more fun working as part of a team, rather than an entire team on your own.
Our team is %100 community team. We are self sponsored. Me and my brother built our robot in our basement. We did get a $1500 grant to start through the school when I was in middle school.
Good luck!
My robotics organization was started because two kids wanted to work together but were going to different schools. Now we have 2 high school teams, 4 middle school teams, and one Open team. Try to get other people to be on your team. Try to get sponsorships, and do some fundrasing.
I agree with Justice. STEM is all about teamwork (one person does not send astronauts to mars). Teams are king in STEM - and Vex exercises that. It is not always easy to work in a team - but when done properly the sum is greater than the parts. Our teams have struggled with this but it is one of the most important skills that can be developed in Vex. You should definitely open your team up to more members. Sure you could probably so it alone, but that really isn’t real world.
The cost depends on the game and your solution. For this season an impact shooter would cost under a thousand. Last year with those towers teams had close to that in aluminum.
I know of lots and lots of teams that are either family run or live next to each other.
You’ll need to register your robot and enter in some events. Lots of events will trade work for entrance fees.
You should try to get local sponsorship, remember you can cover the entire robot with advertising.
Wait, what? You tell me events in your area will waive your entrance fee if you help with the event? I want that! I think we should have earned an entire free season by now.
To the OP, striking out on your own isn’t that bad. The upfront costs are large, and you may have to be conservative in what you choose to buy at first, but after the first season or two the costs should drop dramatically. Used parts are your friend, especially the big purchases such as Cortex & Joystick.
You guys definately should have! I want this to start here so much lol
Maybe at the next Campo & DV competitions . . .
We’ll start the trend for other teams
@Highwayman Mom says “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” As an event producer I’ve swapped match fees for help, field sets, etc.