Starting a VeX team.
 

OK, Since I've known about VEX, I've wanted to start a team. Being in Atlanta, and scoping out exactly what the kit's where like, and what was possible really got me pumped up about this new system. Only one logical thing to do - Start a team, and get even more young kids hooked on FIRST, Science and Engineering.

The Plan: I plan on contacting local middle schools, and getting in tough with the technology teachers, as they are the most likely to be interested, and would be able to pass the word around the school, and find the kids who are most interested in such a program. I also plan on hooking up with the local Lego league teams and to see who might be interested in crossing over.

The Resources: While the middle school tech teachers are doing their thing, I plan on finalizing who exactly will be mentoring, and start to set up the infrastructure to support a team. I think once that is established, fund raising can Begin, and the "team" can start to getting together, maybe for a fun event at first just to get to know each other better, and to understand the goals of the team. This is my first time starting a team of this nature, but I've been involved with first for over 4 years, and now that I am a college mentor, I feel I will be able to mentor both a FIRST team, and a VEX team. It will be nice to give these kids a head start into science and engineering, and then when they get into high school, they can join team 250.

The Question: Who has started their own teams, be it a VEX team, or a FLL team. I am still trying to hash out what exactly the infrastructure should look like. I want to plan it around a business structure, and run it like a corporation. I'm still unsure of all of the costs, and I am wondering about sponsorship.

I know of many people on the FIRST team, students, and mentors/engineers who are also pumped up about this, and I just wanted to see what others are doing to run/start teams for this coming year.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

As far as I know, Vex is designed for high schoolers, sort of like a stepping stone from FLL to FRC. I too am interested in starting a few teams and would like to know things such as cost, time commitment, etc.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

I got the impression that Vex was for late middle schoolers and early high schoolers, to be, like you said, a stepping stone. I'm looking forward to getting with my team, and discussing future events, and how the team can facilitate a vex sub team.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

The current recomended ages are 14-18 (which is in the high school range). But it is unclear if that will remain the same or be enforced.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

The conversation about the VEX competition was that it would actually be open to all ages. In reality, that makes sense taking the price point and various other factors into consideration. However, that being said, the final decisions about next year's pilot program haven't been made public yet (if they've even been made at all). The final say will come down to what FIRST posts in the next month or so about the competitions next year. Regardless, on the subject of starting a team, there were sign-ups at the competition in ATL this week-end for next year's pilot program. If you're interested and can't find the proper resources, I have some Radio Shack contacts that will be able to answer your question for sure.

~Ben

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

I was a judge down there for VeX and based on what I saw of the competition, the teams, and the kit. The feedback I gave FIRST was 7th to 10th grade. But no idea if they will listen (though that seemed to be something the judges all agreed on). In the case where juniors or seniors were there, they usually were acting as coaches.

In terms of commitment, it looked like most teams met 2 or 3 times a week for a couple hours at a time over the month they had. Some teams didn't get thier kits on time so they worked more often during a shorter period.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

I think a good group of middle school students could master the current VEX as easily as LEGO but they will not be as competitive their first time out as a high school team which FIRST experience. My opinion is based on coaching a middle school LEGO team for three years and stating a high school VEX team this year.

Gardner Chambliss
FRC 1648 FRV 48

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

That's a great plan. WPI has been doing something similar recently using the Robovation kits, and we have had great luck getting local schools, who could otherwise not afford the cost and time comittment of FIRST, involved in robotics. As you can see in my signature, I was a coordinator for the WPI-EBOT program, which this year recruited 6 teams from local public schools, trained teachers at those schools, and assisted teams throughout the competition season. Because VEX was not finalized when we were doing this (and because the VEX season is too long and interferes with the FRC season), these teams all participated in the pre-FIRST-season Savage Soccer competition that WPI has been running since 1995.

One piece of advice I would have is to always approach a school though its principal. Although the principal will likely not be involved at all in the program, it is important that they fell that they are involved (and if you can make them think it's their idea, all the better). Don't forget that a principal can shut down any program in the school for any reason, so it is critical that you have them on your side. The pricipals we talked to were all very enthusiastic about starting such a program, and referred us to the appropriate people (either a vice-principal in charge or technology or a technology coordinator).

You know what they say about teaching someone to fish? Because the VEX kits are so user friendly, you would probably have better luck mentoring the middle school teachers so that they can run their respective teams. Don't forget that the VEX season (and in fact the VEX regionals) will coincide with the FRC season, so mentors would likely find it hard to do both. This would also give the schools the option in the future of incorperating VEX into their classes.

When we created the WPI-EBOT program, the goal was to be able to recruit other organizations to act as EBOT "nodes" that could start robotics teams in their local areas. WPI-EBOT would provide you with promotional materials to bring to schools, training materials for the teachers, miscellaneous support, and the Savage Soccer game (if you choose to do it in addition to FVC), and you can focus on getting the schools involved and supporting them.

As I mentioned above, your teams could also participate in the Savage Soccer competition. The competition is designed for a 3-4 week build season, a new game is released in early November, and we hold the competition in early December (so that we are done by the FRC kickoff). You are more than welcome to use the game we develope this coming year, and if your can't drive up to Worcester for the competition, running your own small competition is cheap and easy (since we have essentially zero budget, or field usually costs $10-$20 to build). And, because Savage Soccer ends well before winter break, nothing says you can't do both it and VEX, which is exactly what three Mass Academy teams did this year.

Starting a FIRST team and starting a VEX team are quite different in my experience. I don't know yet what FVC will charge teams to register, but assuming you just pay for two kits per team, that is 1/10 the cost of FRC (and at that price, paying teachers overtime is a much more significant expense than the competition itself). While most school budgets have already been set by this time of year, it might be worthwhile to approach the schools and see if they have the funding to support such a program. For EBOT, which cost around $1000 per team because we used the Robovation kits, funding came from sources such as technology grants, professional development money, and other sources. Also, the fact that FVC teams (like FLL teams) can reuse the kits means that schools will be much more willing to pay for the kits.

Also, the small size of a VEX team (4-8 kids usually) means that a lot of the organizational stuff becomes immensely easier. For WPI-EBOT, we mostly left that stuff up to the schools, and it wasn't a major burden. Organizing a FRC team is much much harder.

You can check out the WPI-EBOT website at erobotics.org to get an idea of the traning materials and the game that we used. If you need any help, advice, or more information, feel free to email us at ebot-at-wpi-dot-edu.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

I currently am a high school junior and was on FVC-34 this year as well as WildStang. VEX on our team was offered to students like me who were more involved in the buisness end of the high school FIRST team. I thought it was amazing, being able to build a robot in a few weeks and compete it with friends.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it shouldnt be limited to Frosh-Soph team members, just becuase someone is 17 and 18 doesn't mean that they are to old. But then again I understand that it is not fair for high schoolers to compete against younger middle schoolers.
Then again VEX is also cheaper than FRC so it would allow more schools to get involved.
But still my input is from my own experience... I think VEX should be open to all high schoolers and middle schoolers.

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

Yes... I too would like to know how to start a Vex team. I think that I may have a teacher interested that had my brother as a student. I plan on purchasing a Vex kit and fidgiting with it to see how well it may go with younger students. :D

Re: Starting a VeX team.
 

Is there any word on when the official competition structure for next year will be released by FIRST. Like when is kickoff, how long is build, what is the registration fee, who can participate (middle school?), how to get started, etc, etc. We might be interested in starting a team but we'd like some more info on exactly what the Vex program is going to be like.