About VEX and 99621

With membership fees of up to $4,000 for private robotics clubs in our event region, Shorecrest VEX Robotics offers students the unique opportunity to get involved with robotics for free!

While participating in VEX Robotics enables students with many hard skills, the most important skill you’ll walk away with isn’t how to turn a screwdriver. The VEX Robotics Competition challenges students to work on a team, take initiative, problem solve, innovate, and perservere. 21st century skills such as these allow for success in the Information Age.

Played on a 12' by 12' field, each season teams build robots that begin within the 18" by 18" by 18" starting volume. Together students build, program, and drive their robots - documenting their bloopers and "ah ha" moments alike in an engineering notebook.

Meeting Times

While the most passionate teams may take their robots home over school breaks and on some weekends to scrimmage with other local teams, work time is generally offered following the structure below.

• Wednesdays After School Until 4:30 PM (With Ms. Slack)
• Thursdays After School Until 4:30 PM (With Mrs. Potter)
• Thursday Lunch Meetings (With Mrs. Potter and Student Leaders)

Many robotics students are also student athletes and join us for the first half of Wednesday work time before their practice starts. Students are always welcome to come to the engineering room for homeroom.

What Will You Find a Passion For?

Research and Design Behind the best robots and game strategies is lots of research and planning. Teams can find inspiration by watching videos, browsing online resources, and connecting with other teams. Some teams CAD their robots before building them, some sketch their ideas, and others build prototypes to find which solution works bests.	Programming The first 15 seconds of Head-to-Head Matches and the full 60 seconds of Autonomous Coding Skills Matches are entirely autonomous, meaning robots take no input from their drivers. Programmers are responsible for developing controls for their team’s robot. Our teams code in blocks, Python, or C++, depending on interest/experience.	Documentation A team’s engineering notebook follows their use of the engineering design process throughout the season. Engineering notebooks are evaluated at competitions and several awards require the submission of an engineering notebook to be considered. More importantly, maintaining an engineering notebook helps teams record their ideas, track accomplishments, and reflect on their work. Notebooks can be done digitally or on paper.
What Will You Find a Passion For?
Driving and Strategy Drivers learn to control their team’s robot and subsystems, navigating the field to score points for their alliance. Discussing game strategy with alliance partners at competitions gives the drive team the opportunity to interact with other teams and learn about their robots.	Team Spirit Whether by dressing up in costumes, matching as a team, or simply wearing your green and gold, Shorecrest is all about team spirit! Establishing a team character helps you stand out at competitions and a positive attitude is always a good reminder that competitions aren't only about winning.	Building Builders are responsible for constructing durable and robust robots with attention to safety and detail. They are the ones to maintain the robot to ensure it can keep up with the rigors of competition.