WVU VEX U Team 2023

WHAT IS VEX U?

VEX U robotics refers to the university-level division of the VEX Robotics Competition. VEX Robotics is an educational robotics platform that allows students to design, build, and program robots to compete in various challenges.

VEX U is specifically designed for university and college students who want to further their robotics skills and engage in more advanced competitions. It provides a platform for students to collaborate, innovate, and apply their engineering knowledge to solve complex challenges.

In VEX U competitions, teams of students build robots using VEX Robotics components and compete against each other in a variety of game-based challenges. These challenges require the robots to complete specific tasks, such as picking up objects, navigating obstacles, or scoring points in different ways. The teams are judged based on their robot's performance, design, and programming, as well as their ability to work as a team and solve problems.

VEX U robotics competitions are not only about building robots but also about developing critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills. Participating in VEX U can provide students with valuable hands-on experience in engineering, robotics, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, preparing them for future careers in these areas.

WHAT IS SPIN UP?

VEX Robotics Competition Spin Up is played on a 12’x12’ square field, in Head-to-Head Matches, two (2) Alliances - one (1) “red” and one (1) “blue,” composed of two (2) Teams each - compete in Matches consisting of a fifteen-second (0:15) Autonomous Period followed by a one minute and forty-five-second (1:45) Driver Controlled Period.

The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by Scoring Discs in Goals, owning Rollers, and Covering field tiles at the end of the Match. 

The WVU Robotics Club's VEX U Team competed in the States Competition held in Fairmont. we performed well in skills coming in at 26th in the world and secured a slot to go to the World VEX U Competition. Once again the team's hard work and countless hours of practice paid off as qualifying for the World VEX U Robotics Competition is a tremendous accomplishment for the WVU Robotics Club's VEX U Team. At Worlds, WVU's VEX U Team performed really well. The team's final rank came to be 13th in the Research division which is the highest we have obtained so far and had gotten into the elimination rounds.

Big thanks to Ryan Sigler, Julie Gruber, Norman Mihelic, Jason Gross, and Yu Gu at the WVU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering for making this possible! Let's go Mountaineers!