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Official Q&A: VEX IQ Robotics Competition 2025-2026: Mix & Match
2814: Tape for "Paper License Plates"
<R15> Prohibits the use of Tape and/or any other material that adheres to or changes a legal part, other than non-functional decorations. <R6> Requires teams to have 2 license plates on their robot and provides options for using a paper printed license plate in replacement of the plastic license plate: https://viqrc-kb.recf.org/hc/en-us/articles/28277975906199-Printable-VEX-IQ-Robotics-Competition-License-Plate
Context: All of the participating teams are fully registered with robotevents and have paid for their registration; however, many teams choose not to accept the welcoming package which gives the physical plastic license plates because it costs money to have it shipped.
Since the license plate serves a function for the robot, as an identifier for the judges, can tape be used for the sole purpose of affixing the paper license plate to the robot?
Hello, Jon, and thanks for your question!
As you pointed out in your question, rule <R15> prohibits tape except as part of non-functional decorations. This includes attaching a Team's License Plates, which per clause C of rule <R6> are functional Robot components.
If a Team uses plain paper versions of License Plates, they must be attached using other functional parts that are legal for use on VIQRC Robots. Capped connectors are a great choice, and standard connector pins work well, too---especially when used in combination with IQ beams to "sandwich" the edges of a paper License Plate on a Robot. Teams that use paper License Plates should have extras on hand to replace copies that become damaged or illegible during a Match.
We hope this gives you some ideas of how Teams can legally attach paper License Plates to their Robots!