Q&A
VEX IQ Robotics Competition 2026-2027: Level Up
Marcado: GG11
Welcome to the official VEX IQ Robotics Competition Question & Answer system, where all registered teams have the opportunity to ask for official rules interpretations and clarifications. This Q&A system is the only source for official VIQRC rules clarifications, and the clarifications made here from the Game Design Committee (GDC) are considered as official and binding as the written Game Manual itself.
Please review the Q&A Usage Guidelines before posting. This system is only intended for specific VIQRC game rules questions.
- For event, registration, or other competition support questions, please contact your Program Support Manager.
- For VEX technical support, contact [email protected] or [email protected].
- For game questions, suggestions, or concerns outside of specific and official rules questions, contact [email protected]
3211: Clarification on the Minimum Number of Students Required for Team Registration
<GG11>According to <GG11>, a team may participate in a competition with only one or two students. However, Appendix E states that a team must consist of at least three students.
Does this mean that at least three students are required to register a team, but only one or two students may attend and participate in an actual competition?
I would appreciate clarification on how these two rules should be interpreted.
Respondido por committee
Thank you for pointing out these discrepancies. Appendix E contains outdated information that needs to be revised or removed.
First, let me clarify the <GG1> and <GG11> rules:
- <GG1> states that each Team may send up to three Drive Team Members to their Driver Station for a Match: two Drivers and one Loader.
- <GG11> covers the roles those two Drivers play during the Match, such as how long each Driver is allowed to operate the Robot, when Drivers are allowed to also serve as Loaders during a Match, and what happens to these roles when only one Drive Team Member is able to be present for a Match.
Now, here's the information you need to know:
- Per the Student Eligibility Policy, a VEX IQ Robotics Competition Team requires a minimum of 2 students.
- With two students on a Team, both students should serve as Drive Team Members at an event to fulfill all the necessary functions of a drive team for the duration of a Match. (While one Driver is operating the Robot, the other Driver will serve as the Loader, swapping roles with each other midway through the Match.)
- With three or more students on a Team, you have the option of adding one additional student to the drive team as a dedicated Loader, for a total of three Drive Team Members.
- All other students who are part of the Team that are not Drive Team Members may still participate at competition events in other ways, such as helping to fix the Robot if it breaks during a Match, working to improve the design or programming for the Robot, devising Match strategies with other Teams that they'll be partnered with, etc.
2765: Code in driver skills and team work, to what extent?
In the game manual, it vaguely touches on the topic of what is classified as ‘driver control’ and what is legal during driver skills and teamwork matches. So, we were wondering, is it legal to run an autonomous code during a teamwork or driver skills match, and if so, to what extent? Below are a few scenarios, we would appreciate if you could let us know if they are legal, as well as if in general, it is acceptable to have a program control the robot in teamwork and driver skills.
- Having a short program, so when a button is pressed on the controller, a 4 bar lift is raised to a specific height.
- Having a program, so when a button is pressed, the robot will reverse towards the centre orange goal, then score a beam on the stake, by lowering a 4 bar lift and releasing a pneumatic piston.
- Having a program, where a button on the controller is pressed, then the robot will drive and turn, creating a stack of 2 pins, but not scoring them.
- Having a program, where a button is pressed on the controller, then the robot autonomously navigates the field for the entire minute, scoring points.
This was legal last season, an example being at worlds, with the strategy nicknamed ‘China load’ or ‘phase load’, which required essentially no driver control, using a vision sensor to determine when the ball was loaded, and then collecting and passing it automatically, before automatically repeating.
Thanks, we look forward to your response!
-52111A
Respondido por committee
There is currently no rule that prohibits any of these strategies in Driving Skills or Teamwork Matches.