Dallas Convention Center To Host 2009 VEX Robotics Competition World Championship

[Kyle]

Wow, VEX seems to be taking off more then I thought it was. Nice

[Kyle Love]

Hm, conveinent location to IFI. Awesome. I can't wait for the VEX season! Now, there really is an affordable, local and competitive robotics competition in many locations around the USA and the world. It will be an awesome season!

[mplanchard]

SolidWorks Sponsorship Available for US and International VEX Robotics Teams

Application is available at www.solidworks.com/SponsoredDesignContest. Click “SolidWorks Sponsorship” button and fill out the application.

Enter “VEX” for the question “What contest are you participating in?”

We ship SolidWorks software to your school address. (Void where prohibited by US Trade Laws)

All teams have access to the VEX model library at
www.3dcontentcentral.com.

Check out the new VEX Protobot assembly instructions and eDrawings at www.SolidWorksRoboticsUniversity.com.

Marie

[smartkid]

Go Texas!!! (I wasn't born a Texan but I sure was raised as one)

Thats sweet...

[lynca]

Still alive an kicking with Ike on my doorstep !

This is great news. I hope Dallas can attract more VEX teams to the Houston VEX qualifier. VEX Houston needs to grow more teams to meet our goal and we always need more robotics teams !

http://vex.txfirst.org (if this website goes out , than that means I just lost power ! )

[MidWFirst]

about 100 tournaments around the world, and guaranteeing that every winner from every event can enter the World Championship - very impressive.

I remember watching the webcast in class with some students back in May of the last Vex World Championship. That looked incredible and I think it had around 100 teams. The 2009 Vex world championship sounds like it will be HUGE! Now we just have to qualify somewhere.

[DCA Fan]

Well, if you all need a Chinese-speaking Vex ref again, you know where to find me

[happylife]

DCA Fan ,Can I contact with you! my mail hunantelecom#gmail.com
I am from China ,something about Championship

[BrentJ]

That is great as Vex is a really great competition.

I am glad New Zealand is doing Vex before FRC in 2009 because it gives a chance for students to learn the basics of robot building when mistakes don't matter so much. Once they have learnt the basics on the Vex they can apply the ideas on a bigger scale with better understanding.

The one thing I hope is maybe in a few years they may be able to bring the Vex and FRC competitions closer together in date maybe FRC the first week Vex the next week.

It would be good for overseas teams to keep the cost down. So if they qualify for one competition but not the other they can still go and watch.

[Andrew Bates]

The problem with that is that the VRC and the FIRST competitions are run by two different organizations. I suppose they could get together and plan to have their competitions at the same time but since they recently split I doubt it will happen.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by BrentJ

That is great as Vex is a really great competition.

I am glad New Zealand is doing Vex before FRC in 2009 because it gives a chance for students to learn the basics of robot building when mistakes don't matter so much. Once they have learnt the basics on the Vex they can apply the ideas on a bigger scale with better understanding.

The one thing I hope is maybe in a few years they may be able to bring the Vex and FRC competitions closer together in date maybe FRC the first week Vex the next week.

It would be good for overseas teams to keep the cost down. So if they qualify for one competition but not the other they can still go and watch.

Wow don't say that to the kids on our two Vex teams who have worked very hard on their robots. It means just as much to them as the students on our FRC team.

[BrentJ]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Wow don't say that to the kids on our two Vex teams who have worked very hard on their robots. It means just as much to them as the students on our FRC team.

I didn't mean to cause offence.

I agree Vex is just as important as FRC.

I mean't more from a safety / ease of assembly point of view.
For an example we stripped a plastic gear which didn't cause a safety hazard and was cheap to replace. But if this was on an FRC there could have been consequences also the cost would have been higher.

Also with the Vex since you use all standard parts if something you try out doesn't work you don't loose much in terms of cost because you can just reuse the part. But in FRC you custom make a part it doesn't work you are stuck with a waste of materials.

Vex having a longer timeline also means that students can try out more ideas to see if they work. On FRC because of the build time if an idea is not likely to work then the mentors have to step in and suggest the time might be better spent on a different approach. But with Vex you can let them build it and prove / disprove their ideas.

I agree a well designed Vex robot is just as important as a well designed FRC one. But for people who haven't built robots before I think Vex is a great starting ground that will give them confidence to work on a FRC robot.

I also think that a Vex World championship title is a worthwhile goal to aim for in its own right.

When our new school year starts in late January there will be a big push on Vex to get ready for our March regional.

So in case I have offended anyone again I'll just say " Both Vex and FRC are great concepts in their own right but they also compliment each other".

[Pavan Dave]

Nobody in their right minds has any authority, and I don't care if you're Dean Kamen, Bill Gates, or any other notable figure, to belittle any other robotics program.

Who are you to say an FRC gear that costs $10 is more than a VEX gear that costs $5? I know FRC and VEX teams that work with generous budges and others that barely have enough to make bases and compete.

What's wrong with a standardized set of parts? I know that in FIRST you CAN get standardized parts and create a good robot out of them. And in reality THOSE parts that are simple, readily available, are the ones that make for the shortest down times as opposed to having tons of custom machined parts.

And there are many statements to chop up and clarify but using the search function would be much more efficient.

You might be able to compare apples and oranges because they're both fruits, but you can't compare an apple to my Toyota Camry... It just doesn't work.

Its not about the robot, its about what the person on the other end of the robot gets from building the robot. And I can honestly say I've seen more inspiration in EARLY, GEAR, and FLL from little kids and Legos** than I have from people who have driven and won competitions with FRC robots.

Pavan

**LEGO Bricks. Big deal.