The VEX V5 Robotics Competition is for students up to age 18 so will include these in the final year of their A-Levels. The youngest competitors could be 11 years old, so in Year 7 at school. Each year, a different VEX Robotics Competition game is released. Teams will design, build and code a robot to play this game. The video on this page gives an overview of the 2024 - 2025 game, High Stakes
Teams will design and build a robot using the VEX V5 system of parts. As well as VEX parts, they are also allowed to use a limited number of other materials which are outlined in the game manual. The most notable of these is an allowance of polycarbonate sheets, which can be cut and shaped as they please.
Please familiarise yourself with the Game Manual: V5RC High Stakes Game Manual
Matches
There are two separate Divisions, Lovelace for High School teams, and Brunel for Middle School teams. This is a slight change to previous years, where Middle and High School teams would compete together.
Throughout the event, teams will participate in numerous qualification matches against teams in their Division based on a randomly generated schedule. Each match will have 4 teams participating - two Alliances of two. At the end of the match, the teams on the Alliance with the highest score will receive two win points (or one point for a draw). These points go into a league table (called Rankings) which you will be able to see throughout the event.
When all the qualification matches are complete, the teams go into Alliance Selection. This is where the highest ranked teams pick their Alliance Partner for the Elimination Rounds.
In the Elimination Rounds, Alliances play in a knock-out tournament to see who is crowned Tournament Champions. There will be separate Tournament Champions for each Division.
Skills
Teams will also have the opportunity to show off their individual ability in the Skills Challenges.
There are two categories here. In Driver Skills, teams take to the Field on their own and try to score as many points as possible in one-minute. In Autonomous Coding Skills, teams are not allowed to use their remote controls and must code the robot to score points autonomously.
Each team will get three attempts at Driver Skills and three attempts at Autonomous Coding Skills over the course of the event. Their highest score from each category will be added together to give an overall Skills score - the team with the highest combined score will be crowned Skills Champion.
Middle and High School teams will be ranked against teams from the same Division only.
Awards
As well as the performance related awards (Divisional Champions, Tournament Champions and Skills Champions), there are also numerous judged awards, which is where our panel of judges come in!
So that you can familiarise yourself prior to the event, please read the REC Foundation resources on judging here. Please feel free to read as much of this as you can prior to the event. The most important sections are:
Get Started - Judge Volunteer Role Overview
Judging Processes: The Guide to Judging - There are a few sections under this heading to help you prepare. The Guide to Judging: Awards outlines each of the awards on offer and the criteria for these awards
There is no requirement for judges to have taken the Judge Certification Course. However, if you wish to expand your knowledge then you are very welcome to complete this.
There will be a Judges Briefing each morning which will take you through everything you need to know. Judges will have time to interview each team in relation to their award as well as watch on-field matches to help with decision making.
