VEX V5 Robotics Competition Spectator Primer Part 1: The Big Picture—Structure & Season

The articles in this 2-part series are intended to give families and spectators a general understanding of the VEX V5 Robotics Competition (V5RC) so they can better appreciate watching their students at competitions. Be sure to continue on to Part 2 of this series, "Tournaments."

Benefits of the VEX V5 Robotics Competition

Students are challenged with a new game each competition season, and collaborate with teammates in an iterative design process to develop a robot for the game. Teams gain hands-on, real-world engineering, coding, documentation, and presentation experience as they prepare for and compete in tournaments.

Presenting Organizations

The VEX V5 Robotics Competition is presented by VEX Robotics and the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation. A group of representatives from both companies—called the Game Design Committee—creates the rules for each season’s V5RC game.

VEX Robotics

VEX Robotics is an educational robotics company that offers materials and curriculum for students of all ages. The group of parts used in V5RC is called VEX V5. VEX Robotics is a subsidiary of Innovation First International (IFI), and is based in Greenville, Texas.

Robotics Education & Competition Foundation

The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation offers a range of competitive robotics programs—including V5RC—for elementary school through college students. Their programs spark interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable, and affordable curriculum-based robotics programs. The REC Foundation works with volunteers around the world who run V5RC tournaments, and hosts the season-culminating VEX Robotics World Championship. The REC Foundation is also based in Greenville, Texas, near IFI headquarters.

VEX V5 Robotics Competition Philosophies

Code of Conduct

The REC Foundation considers the positive, respectful, and ethical conduct of all students, teachers, mentors, parents, and other event attendees an important and essential component of all events. The Code of Conduct provides an overview of expectations for participants’ behavior and ethical standards at all REC Foundation-sanctioned events. The Code of Conduct is posted at most V5RC tournaments.

Rule G1: Treat Everyone With Respect

All participants are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner at VEX V5 Robotics Competition events. If a team or its associated adults are disrespectful or uncivil to event staff, volunteers, or fellow competitors they may be disqualified from a current or upcoming match or deemed ineligible for judged awards.

Rule G2: The VEX V5 Robotics Competition is a Student-centered Program

The REC Foundation believes that all aspects of VEX V5 Robotics Competition (V5RC) should actively involve students in learning opportunities, and that students should have complete ownership of how their robot is designed, built, programmed, and utilized in match play. The REC Foundation Student-centered Policy outlines expectations for student and adult participation in V5RC.

Types of VEX Robotics Competition

VEX Robotics provides competition opportunities to students from elementary school through university. Each competition type has a structure designed specifically for the participants’ age range.

VEX V5 Robotics Competition Teams

VEX V5 Robotics Competition teams are composed of 1 or more student members; 4-8 members is typical. Each organization (usually a school or formal/informal club) is assigned a one-to-five digit number that will represent the teams in that organization. Each team then adds a single letter of their choice to the end of that number to designate their specific team. For example, Lovejoy High School is registered as organization number 1082 with teams 1082A, 1082F, 1082X, etc; the nearby Middle School is organization number 10820 with teams 10820B, 10820G, 10820V, etc.

Each student on a team will fill one or more roles on the team, and it’s common for multiple students to fill each role before or during a tournament.

VEX V5 Robotics Competition Season Timeline

Each VEX V5 Robotics Competition season begins with the announcement of a new game during the finale of the VEX Robotics World Championship. Some teams begin to meet and plan immediately, and others begin work once school resumes in August. Organizations and teams set their own schedules based on local competitions, which generally run from October through mid-February. State, Regional, and National Championships run in March, and qualify teams to the VEX Robotics World Championship in late April and/or early May.

The Road to the VEX Robotics World Championship

During the VEX V5 Robotics Competition season, student teams compete at local events and can qualify—through judging and/or on-field performance—to participate in State, Regional, or National Championships. Some teams at championship events will qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championship.

• Local events typically occur on Saturdays and last all day
• Championship events last 1-3 days, and usually run on weekends
• Signature Events are large, multi-region efforts that last 2-3 days and qualify top teams directly to the VEX Robotics World Championship
• The VEX Robotics World Championship spans 9-10 days, with each competition & age level competing over a 3-day period

For more information on the VEX Robotics World Championship, visit this series of articles in the REC Library.

Credits

Much of the information in this article comes from a 2022 presentation by Lovejoy High School Robotics 1082 titled “Introduction to VEX Robotics Competitions,” and is used with their permission.