Anybody seen this? FIRST - VEXrobotics?

[Travis Covington]

Nice site. Seems to be FIRST related.. what is it though? Anybody come across this before?

www.vexrobotics.com

[Rombus]

Here is my SWAG at it: (Scientific Wild $@#$@#$@# Guess)
Vex might be a spinoff competition of FIRST. im guessing teams will only be allowed to use the erector set like KOP and nothing else to build a function device that does a task. Kinda like FLL Except with a bigger set of parts you can do more with. I bet its Auto or manual control ONLY ( Im leaning towards auto control)

But like i said, this is just a guess, I hope its something college students can compete in

[karch]

Hey, that is cool. Supposedly Vex and First are partners in this new robot competition, and it sounds like it's focused more on autonomous...

[IMDWalrus]

I could be completely wrong here - and I probably am, since FIRST is nonprofit - but the description of the kit looks almost - almost - like a product page.

I'm not saying that FIRST is going to be selling these kits, but you never know...

This could be a possible replacement for FLL too. I know that those involved in FLL on my team (not me, due to lack of time) were talking about a spinoff of the program targeted towards elementary school kids. It's possible that FLL will be aimed at younger kids now, and I could see this kit being given to seventh and eighth graders.

Considering the fact that there's a page up about a competition in Georgia, I think we'll learn more about this Vex at Nationals...and I'm definitely intrigued.

[theory6]

Looks like a sub competition within FIRST, also taking place at Nationals. Might be interesting to watch provided we know what it is!

But whatever VEX is, their website is pretty cool

[dez250]

If im looking at this page and descriptions and everything right on here it almost sounds like the Robovation kits and their launch date is the Saturday at the Championship.... This sounds interesting

[Billfred]

Vex Robotics...sounds like something that Dave Lavery does every day.

I'll be very interested to see exactly what this is--if FLL is the little league of the FRC, perhaps this will become the farm teams?

[Jeremy Roberts]

The website does look pretty cool. How'd you end up finding it...a random search or posted somewhere? As for exactly what it is and how it works I guess most of us will have to wait till April.

[Elgin Clock]

Guess who owns the domain.. One hint - not FIRST (personally anyways, prolly in partnership with FIRST though).
I knew this was coming. It is all crystal clear now.. Logo change, The partnership & now some final product marketing...
It all comes into play eventually.

AHH! I need to make it to Atlanta to see this unveiling of VEX.

And yes, I want to know too.. how did you find out about this site?
And, was it supposed to be shown already?

edit: I just want to add that I so called this a couple months ago in the thread about the new logo. Just wanted to point that out, in case anyone cares. It was a guess, but hey.. sometimes a guess is all you got!

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Guess who owns the domain.. One hint - not FIRST (personally anyways, prolly in partnership with FIRST though).

AHA! It is true! However I just can't say, everyone: you have to go look it up for yourselves. I just can't believe it.

Finally something to offer other than just cell phones and cheap RC cars!

[Someone]

hint: by switching the letters of the company who owns the www.vexrobotics.com owning company/individual, you can produce the name Andy T.

[Ted Boucher]

I think that this is connected directly to FIRST, just like how FLL is.

The starter kit (about $299 on the VEX website) seems to be cheap and would be perfect for teams that could not raise enough money for the FRC competition. I also believe FLL will be dropped in the coming years since Lego has major money problems to deal with. I don't know if this is all true but it all makes sense.

[Greg Needel]

anyone else notice how that robot graphic in the top corner looks like the centaur (Segway ATV)

i am also thinking maybe this is an on site comp where you get the challenge and that day you build and compete.

[Greg Needel]

i checked the whois and found out that the registrant is radio shack which is interesting becasuse they are a new sponsor of FIRST. this has got to be a new robovation type kit for public sales, maybe all the proceeds from these will go to FIRST



Registrant:
Radioshack
(DOM-1315144)
200 Taylor St.
Suite 5368 Fort Worth
TX
76102 US

Domain Name: vexrobotics.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com


Created on..............: 2004-Oct-01.
Expires on..............: 2006-Oct-01.
Record last updated on..: 2004-Oct-01 10:20:41.

Domain servers in listed order:

DNS1.TANDY.COM 139.60.220.225
DNS2.TANDY.COM 139.60.220.226

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
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The previous information has been obtained either directly from the registrant or a registrar of the domain name other than Network Solutions. Network Solutions, therefore, does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Show underlying registry data for this record


Current Registrar: EMARKMONITOR INC. DBA MARKMONITOR
IP Address: 209.216.16.114 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: US(UNITED STATES)
Lock Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Data as of: 08-Jun-2004

[Wetzel]

I was amused by the DNS, DNS1.TANDY.COM.

Wetzel