R M Marrs 2nd Annual VEX IQ Tournament Middle School Division

General Info

The R M Marrs Elementary VEX IQ Tournament will be held on Saturday, December 1st.  Students this year will design robots for the Next Level Game, details can be found here:  https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/competition/viqc-current-game

This tournament is open to Elementary students, students enrolled in grade 5 or lower.  

Skills Challenges will be available to all teams, with 3 Max Driver attempts and 3 Max Programming attempts per team.  

The top ten (10) teams from the qualification rounds will participate in Finals.  These ten (10) teams will be automatically paired into 5 Alliances.  The top scoring alliance in Finals will earn the Tournament Champion Award. 

Competition Preparation

This event is sure to be a fast-paced and exciting event. To help all teams prepare, here are a few tips for each team:

1. Review the rules and run through the inspection checklist about a week before the competition so that there is ample time for adjustments. The inspection checklist can be found here. http://link.roboticseducation.org/vexiq_robotinspectionchecklist_2018-19

2. Check the official Game Manual for rule updates and changes.
http://www.roboticseducation.org/vex-iq-challenge/viq-current-game/

3. Check the official QA Forums for rule updates and changes.
https://events.vex.com/VIQC/2018-2019/QA

4. Carefully read all of the information contained in this tournament posting all updates will be posted here

5. Pack for the event the day before the day of departure. Here are a few items that you don't want to forget.

• Spare parts & tools
• Batteries and chargers
• Programming cable
• Power strip
• Laptop computer
• Engineering notebook.

6. Read through the Awards Appendix, there has been some small changes to the awards process. 
http://link.roboticseducation.org/vexiq_nextlevel_awardsappendix

7. Prep for your interviews with the judges. Check the awards tab to see what awards will be given during the tournament.

8. Remember that safety comes first, please don't bring tools that pose a safety risk to your team, or others nearby as the venue is a very tight fit. 

8. Understand how the game will be played. VEX IQ participants are more than welcome to watch the referee training videos before they attend a tournament. The referee training videos can be found here: http://www.roboticseducation.org/vex-iq-challenge/vex-iq-challenge-referee-training-videos/

10. Read through the Robot troubleshooting guide. The guide can be found here -
http://content.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/pdf/VEX-IQ-Troubleshooting-Flowcharts-20141117.pdf

11. Ensure that you have the latest version of firmware. https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/resources/vexos

STEM Research Presentations

We will offer video judging for the STEM Research Presentation. STEM presentations are not required.  

When teams submit their videos, they must meet the following criteria:
• Create and post your video on YouTube.
• The video should summarize your project from start to finish. The video should effectively share the story of your research project and the significance of the math used to accomplish your selection.
• Videos may be up to four (4) minutes long and include credits.
o At the end of the video, there must be a credits section which includes the name of the entrant or entrants, the team number, the name of the video, proper music credit, plus any other information the creators want to include (software used, recognition of sponsors, etc.). The credits should be no longer than 15 seconds and must appear at the end of the video (Total allowed video length is 4 minutes 15 seconds with credits included).

Videos (youtube links) must be sent to [email protected] and [email protected] NO LATER THAN Monday, November 26, 2018 midnight.

More info is available on this link:
https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2018/07/stem-research-project-presentation-2018-19.pdf

Grade Level: Middle School

Skills Challenge Offered: Yes