VEX IQ Mix & Match Scorekeeper Training for Skills Matches

This article includes tips from experienced Head Referees on how to train and use Scorekeepers for Mix & Match Skills Matches. See this related article for tips on training and using Scorekeepers for Mix & Match Teamwork Matches.

Last updated on October 30, 2025

Thank you for being here! You are in a unique position to help put the teams at ease, help them find answers to questions, and help them avoid breaking the rules.

• All Scorekeepers should have tablets or devices with TM Mobile installed and connected to the server
• You will start/stop the match timer, watch for violations, and submit the score
• Each team will get a maximum of 3 driving skills matches and 3 autonomous coding skills matches
• Skills Stop Time must be requested by the team before EACH run, or it’s not recorded
• Any violation of the rules is considered “score affecting” if it results in an increase of that team’s score at the end of the match

The lists below are key rules and tasks to keep in mind while watching a match.

Before Each Match

• Field requirements
  • Check field setup, and make sure everything is properly connected to the field
  • Check red driver station for match loads: two orange pins, two blue pins, and two red pins
• Team requirements
  • The team uses the red Driver Station <RSC4>
  • Up to 3 drive team members <GG1>
  • All Drive Team Members must stay in the red driver station in Driver Skills Matches, except during approved robot resets
  • Drive Team Members can move freely around the field in Autonomous Coding Skills Matches
  • No powered earbuds, headphones, or live communication devices
• Robot requirements
  • Legible license plates visible on two opposing sides <R6>
  • Robot starting positions <SG1>
    • Contacting the red triangle goal
    • No larger than 11" wide, 20" long, and 15” tall
    • Not touching the wall
    • Contacting exactly one preload
    • Nothing in motion, but the pneumatic pump can be running
    • 1 preload touching the Robot
• Ask the team whether they're going to run a Driving Skills or Autonomous Coding Skills Match, and make sure they haven't already done three of that type
• Agree on a signal for a Skills Stop Time if the team wishes to use one <RSC10>

During Each Match

• Teams can only reach into the field if rescuing a robot; pins & beams in/on bot are removed from the field; restart area can’t contain pins or beams, and robot has to be in legal starting position & size <GG4> & <GG10>
• Robots can never be larger than 11"x20" horizontally during a match <SG2>
• Loading pins/beams at the Load Zone:
  • One object at a time
  • Everything is loaded at the red Load Zone
  • Object must be placed in contact with the IQ beam attached to the floor, in stationary positions (not rolling or falling)
  • An object can't be in contact with a human and a robot at the same time
  • Only one object can be in contact with each load zone at a time
• If you're live scoring, stop live scoring with about 5 seconds left in the match so you can help track any scoring actions that happen after the match timer reaches 0
• Driving Skills Matches:
  • Driver switch between 0:35 and 0:25 <G11>; if single Driver, must stop driving at or before 0:25
  • Can’t reset the robot as a match strategy; only if the robot needs to be rescued or repaired
• Autonomous Coding Skills Matches
  • Team cannot use the robot controller for any purpose during the match; robot must be started with a sensor or the brain
  • There are no drivers and no driver switch; no one is restricted to the driver station
  • Drive team members can use unlimited robot resets, including as a strategy
  • When the robot is reset, all scoring objects are removed from the field and the robot
  • Scoring objects that leave the field can be reintroduced as Match Loads

After Each Match

• Score the match
  • Note: Any rule violation that improved the score of the match should result in a 0 score for that match; grab a head referee as needed to communicate this to the team
• Show scoring to the teams, and make sure they confirm
• Preserve the match & field layout if there are rules questions or scoring issues; notify the Head Referee
• Submit the score after the team agrees
• Tell the team they can take their bot
• Activate the field reset crew, or ask the team to help reset after their match

Quick Reference for Mix & Match Scoring: Points & Criteria

Connected Pins/Beams <SC3>

• Stack is built up from the Floor, the Standoff Goal, or a Beam
• The objects are fully nested together (no gap between the pieces)
• The resulting Stack is roughly vertical (goes 'up' and not sideways)
• The resulting Stack isn't supported by a Pin or Beam that isn't part of that Stack
• If the Stack is resting or leaning on a Field Element, it's a Load Zone, the base of the Standoff Goal, or the IQ parts on the floor around a Square Goal (can't be leaning or resting on anything else)
• Nothing in the resulting Stack is touching a Robot
• Beams can't be Connected to other Beams
• Each Beam can be Connected to up to 3 Pins/Stacks simultaneously, but all of them have to be fully nested

Colors in Stacks <SC4>

• Objects only count as being part of a Stack if they meet all of the requirements for Connected Pins/Beams (<SC3>)
• A Stack that includes more than one color (blue, red, orange, or gray) of Scoring Object receives
  additional points based on the number of colors in that Stack, up to three colors

Stack in a Matching Goal or Connected to a Beam <SC5> & <SC6>

• There are at least two Connected Scoring Objects in the Stack
• No part of the Stack is touching a Robot
• The Stack meets one or both of the following criteria:
  • It is Connected to a Beam
  • It is entirely within a Goal or Connected to the Standoff Goal (see criteria below), and the bottom color of the Stack matches the color of the Goal

Stack Placed on the Standoff Goal <SC5civ>

• The Stack is above the Standoff Goal in one of the following configurations:
  1. The Stack is Connected to the Standoff Goal
  2. The Stack is Connected up from a Beam that is Connected to the Standoff Goal
  3. The Stack is Connected up from a Beam that is part of another Stack that is Connected to the
  Standoff Goal

Cleared Starting Pin <SC7>

• A Starting Pin is Cleared if no part of its Starting Pin Support is within the volume of a Pin at the end
  of the Match

Robot in Contact with Scoring Objects <SC8>

• A Robot will receive 2 points for ending the Match in contact with Scoring Objects in the following
  scenarios:
  a. The Robot is directly contacting two or more Scoring Objects.
  b. The Robot is directly contacting a Scoring Object that is fully nested with one or more additional Scoring Objects.