VEX IQ Awards

This year there will be six awards handed out at the end of the official TUSD VEX IQ tournament. The descriptions of each can be found below.

The only mandatory event that teams must be prepared to participate in is the teamwork challenge. Alliance teams are generated by the tournament software the day of the event and it is an expectation that the teams who check in are ready to play.

Additional ways in which teams can win awards can be found below. At this time, VEX has approved the Tournament Champion and Excellence Awards as qualifying for the California State Championship.

A two team alliance who earns the highest score in the final matches will become the tournament champions at the event.

The two teams who become tournament champions will also receive invitations to the California State Championship.

Teams are not required to participate in the robot skills competition at a tournament. However, teams who are prepared to play have until lunch to make it over to the robot skills field and test their driver or programming skills.

Each team will be provided three chances at driving and three chances at programming. They will need to line up at the field and it is run on a first come, first serve basis.

Click Here to read pages 19 and 20 of the Game Manual with the rules for Robot Skills for Ringmaster.

Each season, one STEM subject is the primary focus of the VEX IQ STEM Research Project. This year the STEM Research Project theme focuses on Robotics Engineering and Ethics. Students are encouraged to think about how ethical decisions effect engineering choices while constructing robots.

All professional organizations hold their members to strong codes of ethics which guide their research and work. Teams will develop an area of study of solving an engineering problem in robotics that interests them while keeping in mind the three Laws of Robotics and with a strong emphasis on the codes of professional ethics found in the practice of science and engineering.

Click Here to learn more about the STEM Research Project and Grading Rubric.

The Design Award is given to the team that demonstrates the most effective and efficient robot design process. This is based on student engineering design notebooks and an interview process. Notebooks need to be turned in at check-in and judges will visit the teams in the pit area during the tournament before lunch. Deliberations occur after lunch to determine the winner of this award.

Many teams create tri-fold boards to help provide information about their team and their robot as judges walk by since not every judge will be visiting every team. This may also help teams during their interview process.

Click Here to learn more about the Design Award and Grading Rubric.

Judges will decide on a team who deserves special recognition for special attributes including exemplary effort and perseverance at the event or other accomplishments that may not fit under existing awards.

The excellence award is given to the team who demonstrates overall excellence in all components of the VEX IQ Challenge. The key criteria include:

• Design Award ranking
• STEM Research Project Award ranking
• Teamwork Challenge Qualification Matches ranking
• Robot Skills Challenge ranking

This is the most prestigious award in VEX IQ competition and will include and those who receive it will also be invited to the California State Championship.