VRC Turning Point Game Manual Updates

This thread will be used to publish updates to the VRC Turning Point Game Manual.

Please start a separate thread in this forum for unofficial discussion of any of these changes. For any official questions, please post in the official VRC Turning Point Q&A.

On June 15th, 2018, the following updates were made to the VRC Turning Point Game Manual. This update included several “red boxes”, which are used to provide additional clarification or explanation beyond the verbiage of a given rule.

  1. <G5> received a red box to clarify what is meant by “placed on the field promptly”.

  1. <G19> was appended with the following line:

  1. <SG2> received a red box to provide some guidance for the leeway associated with the 18" height limit and the Expansion Zone.

  1. <SG4> received a red box to explain the purpose of the Note in <SG4>.

  1. The definition of Hoarding and <SG5> were updated to change the Hoarding limit to more than two Balls or more than one Cap (i.e. more than the standard Possession limit). High Scored Caps and Possessed Game Objects do not count towards Hoarding.

<SG5> also received a red box.


  1. <SG11> received a red box to clear up the confusion between and <G11>.

  1. <R1> received the same red box that was included in last year’s VEX Worlds manual update, attempting to make it clear that teams should build their own robots.

  1. <R5e> was added, stating that V5 beta components are not legal for use. This was also included in the agreement that all beta participants signed.

  1. <R8g> was added, stating that “Vision Sensor distractions” are not permitted.

  1. Appendix B, the Robot Skills Challenge, was updated to clarify that Teams may only use one Ball as their Preload. The other three Preload Balls typically found in a VRC Turning Point Match are not used. This included changes to the image on the first page, , and .

  1. Several minor typo fixes.
  • Changed “weight” to “mass” in the definitions of Ball and Cap
  • Corrected the Post heights in the definition of Post
  • Changed “Scoring” to “Toggling” in <SG2>
  • Changed “Scoring Objects” to “Game Objects” in <SG7>
  • Removed several mentions of 3-team alliances or best-of-3 in the Tournament section
  • Added metric measurements to <R4>
  • Changed “nonfunctional” to “non-functional” in several places
  • Added part numbers to <R10>, <R12>
  • Changed “Skills Preload” to “Robot Skills Preload” in several places of Appendix B

On June 15th, 2018, Appendix E (the VEX U Appendix) received the following changes:

  1. was added, providing a protocol for ending the 45-second Autonomous Period early if both teams are finished. This has been successfully piloted at VEX Worlds for a few years and is now officially supported at other events as well.

  1. was changed to implement specific expansion rules for VEX U.

  1. was added, please don’t try to use a VEX t-shirt as a functional part of your robot.

  1. was expanded to specify what types of plastics and composites are permitted for use. A red box was also added to explain the intent of and provide some guidance for what “unlimited parts for VEX U teams” is supposed to mean.

  1. was added to specify what the pneumatic rules will be for VEX U this season.

  1. was added, regarding the VEX U Skills Challenge.

On August 17th, 2018, the following updates were made to the VRC Turning Point Game Manual.


  1. <G6> was modified to clarify that it applies across the entire season, not just at a specific event.

  1. The Notes in <G12> were re-written, and images were added, to better clarify what Platform interactions should or should not result in <G12> violations.

  1. Notes were added to <G17> to specify that some Net variance should be expected. (Q&A reference 1)

  1. The “Match Ladder” page was re-written to clarify that Event Partners may choose to run between 8 and 16 alliances at their discretion. The previous verbiage implied that this decision was mandated solely by the number of teams at the event, not by EP discretion.

  1. <R16c> was modified to clarify that custom cables are only permitted if they are made using V5 Smart Cable Stock. (Q&A references 1 and 2)

  1. Minor typo fixes.
  • Metric dimensions were fixed in <SG2>.
  • A missing “the” was added to <SG5>.
  • Changed “is” to “are” in <R16j>.

On August 17th, 2018, Appendix E (the VEX U Appendix) received the following changes:


  1. was moved to , since it is not a Robot rule. It was also modified to be consistent with the “Team Composition” section and clarify that students not enrolled in a post-secondary school are not eligible to participate on a VEX U team.

  1. A new was added, to clarify that VEX U teams may use additional fasteners than are permitted by the standard <R6c>.

  1. was updated to clarify that VEX U teams should follow the same License Plate rules as VRC teams.

On April 5th, 2019, the scheduled “VEX Worlds Update” was released. It contained the following changes to the official VRC Turning Point Game Manual. Unless otherwise noted, the changes are bolded for emphasis:

<G6> Drive your own Robot. Each Team shall include up to three Drive Team Members. No Drive Team Member may fulfill this role for more than one Team in a given competition season. Violations or refusal to comply with this rule could be considered a violation of the Code of Conduct and/or <G1> .

<T02> The only people from a Team permitted by the playing field are the three Drive Team Members who are identified by their drive team badges. These badges are interchangeable, but not during a Match .

Drive team badges will not be used at the 2019 VEX Robotics World Championship. <T02>, <G6>, and <G7> will still otherwise apply.

<T03> There are no time outs in Qualifying Matches ; in the elimination rounds, each Alliance will be allotted ONE time out of no more than three (3) minutes, as permitted by the head referee. This time out may not be called during a Match. The Matches must progress according to schedule.

(new) <T05> Prior to the beginning of each Match , Drive Team Members must plug their VEXnet Joystick or V5 Controller into the VEXnet Field Controller’s Cat-5 cable via their controller’s competition port. This cable must remain plugged in for the duration of the Match , and may not be removed until the “all-clear” has been given for Drive Team Members to retrieve their Robots .

Note: The intent of this rule is to ensure that Robots abide by commands sent by tournament software. Temporarily removing the cable to assist with mid-Match troubleshooting, with an Event Partner or other event technical staff present and assisting, would not be considered a violation.

Minor violations of these rules that do not affect the Match will result in a warning. Match Affecting offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the Head Referee’s discretion.

(new) Field Modification : At the 2019 VEX Robotics World Championship, VEX EDR standoffs will be added to the bottom row of Flags to prevent them from over-rotating.

(new) Field Modification: At the 2019 VEX Robotics World Championship, the Alliance Stations will be moved 24” (0.61m) closer to the Net.

<R14> The only allowable source(s) of electrical power are as follows:
b. If using a V5 Robot Brain, robots may use (1) V5 Robot Battery (276-4811).
iii. V5 Wireless Controllers may only be powered by their internal rechargeable battery.
1. Teams are permitted to have an external power source (such as a rechargeable battery pack) plugged into their V5 Controller during a Match, provided that this power source is connected safely and does not violate any other rules, such as <G7> or <R16>.

<R20> To participate in an official VEX Robotics Competition Tournament, a team must first register on www.robotevents.com. Teams that are not registered will not be eligible to compete.

b. The VRC License Plates are considered a non-functional decoration, and cannot be used as a functional part of the robot. As such, using a License Plate for a functional purpose, such as Toggling Flags, is not permitted.

e. Robots must use the colored plates that match their alliance color for each match (i.e. red alliance robots must have their red plates on for the match). It must be abundantly clear which color alliance the robot belongs to.

i. If the plates are attached to opposite-color plates, then the incorrect color must be covered, taped over, or otherwise obscured to ensure that the correct alliance color is abundantly clear to Head Referees during a Match. Since License Plates are considered non-functional decorations, this is a legal non-functional use of tape.

The update also included VEX Worlds tournament structure details about Division Elimination Matches, World Championship Finals, and World Skills Challenge Finals. See the PDF linked above for full details.

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On April 5th, 2019, the scheduled “VEX Worlds Update” contained the following changes to Appendix B, the Robot Skills Challenge:

(new) <RSC4> Rule <SG3> does not apply in Programming Skills Matches. Robots are permitted to contact the foam tiles on the opposing Alliance’s side of the Autonomous Line, contact the opposing Alliance Platform, and become Center Parked.

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On April 5th, 2019, the scheduled “VEX Worlds Update” contained the following changes to Appendix E, VEX U:

<VUR3> Teams are allowed to fabricate their own unique components from the following additional raw materials for each of their robots. These raw materials may be manipulated using techniques that may otherwise be prohibited in VRC, such as welding, brazing, and gluing.

<VUR8> Teams may use the following fasteners on their Robot:
a. Any commercially available #4, #6, #8, #10, M2, M2.5, M3, M4, or ÂĽ-20 screw (of any length), and any commercially available nut, washer and/or spacer to fit these screws.

<VUG6> The VRC rule applies in VEX U, adjusted for the starting height of each Robot (as defined in ).
a. Robot A must return to 24” or smaller once it is no longer contacting the Expansion Zone.
b. Robot B must return to 15” or smaller once it is no longer contacting the Expansion Zone.
c. The 36” horizontal expansion limit applies to both Robots.

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