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Official Q&A: VEX U Robotics Competition 2025-2026: Push Back
2760: VUG2: Expansion Clarification Continuation
<SG2a> “The Robot can never be larger than 22” wide or 22” long (must always be able to fit within a 22”x22” square horizontal footprint). This rule is applied differently for VEX U. See Rule <VUG2>”
<SG3a> “No part of the Robot may exceed an overall height of 22” at any point during the Match (must always be able to fit within a hypothetical 22”x22”x22” cubic sizing box). This rule is applied differently for VEX U. See Rule <VUG2>”
<VUG2> “Different expansion. The 24” Robot may expand up to 24” horizontally or vertically at any time during the Match.”
After the June 5th update to the game manual, the VRC expansion rules in SG2 and SG3 are clear and easy to understand. However, the VUG2 VEXU expansion rule still raises some questions.
It is clear from VUG2 that the SG2 and SG3 rules do not apply to the VEXU 24” robot. But what exactly does the “may expand up to 24” horizontally or vertically” mean? The robot is already allowed to be a 24” cube, so it doesn’t make sense that this VUG2 would be saying that the robot could be 24”x24”x24” after expansion. Does this mean that the 24” robot can expand another 24” (thus being 48” wide or tall)? If so, does the “or” on VUG2 mean that the robot cannot be both 48” wide and 48” tall? For horizontal expansion, is the robot allowed to expand another 24” in multiple axes such that the total footprint is 48”x48”, or does it always need to stay inside a 24”x48” horizontal box?
- Is the 24” expansion of the 24” robot in VUG2 in addition to the 24” starting size? In other words, does VUG2 allow the robot to expand until it is 48” in one direction?
- Does the “or” in VUG2 mean that the robot cannot expand both horizontally and vertically? It must pick one?
- If the robot can only expand in one direction (either vertically or horizontally), can it then retract that expansion and expand in a different direction?
- Does the horizontal expansion mean that the robot can only expand from one direction (such as from the front of the bot) so that the horizontal footprint is never larger than 24”x48”, or can it expand diagonally or from multiple sides such that the total horizontal footprint is 48”x48”?
Additionally, VUG2 doesn’t mention the expansion for the 15” robot, but both SG2 and SG3 mention that they are applied differently for VEXU (and they don’t say that the difference is only for the 24” robot). Does this mean that the SG2 and SG3 rules are applied as written for the 15” robot (it can expand up to a maximum footprint of 22”x22”x22”? Or since VUG2 only mentions the 24” robot, but SG2 and SG3 are applied differently in VEXU, does that mean that the 15” robot cannot expand past the 15”x15”x15” starting size?
- Is the 15” robot allowed to expand past the 15”x15”x15” starting size?
- If so, which rule regulates the expansion of the 15” robot? Is it SG2 and SG3, such that the 15” robot can expand to a maximum of 22”x22”x22”, or is it VUG2, and the 15" robot can also expand exactly the same as the 24" robot can?
To preface, we'd like to point out that the Robot designated as the 24" Robot in a VEX U Match is not required to start the Match at maximum size. <VUR1> only stipulates that it must not be larger than 24" x 24" x 24" at the start of the Match, so the 24" Robot is allowed to start at a smaller size.
As described in the 4th paragraph of Section 6: VEX U Robotics Competition, "All of the standard rules apply, except for the modifications listed in this document."
Rule <VUG2> allows the 24" Robot in a VEX U Match to expand up to a maximum size of 24" x 24" x 24" during the Match, exceeding the 22" sizing limits mandated by the standard rules. Because that is the only change made to the standard Robot expansion rules, the remainder of rules <SG2> and <SG3> apply as-is. That means the 15" Robot is subject to the standard rules <SG2> and <SG3>, and can expand to a maximum size of 22" x 22" x 22" during the Match.