A wealth of engineering resources and content is available to you through VEX, collected here for easy access. We will continually add more information and resources to this article.
Now more than ever, we see how quickly the world can change. As society and technology rapidly evolve, we need to fill the jobs of tomorrow — many of which do not exist yet. These jobs will require solving complex, interdisciplinary problems. With how quickly technology is advancing, some of these jobs do not even exist yet. These jobs will solve complex and interdisciplinary problems.
The field of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is used to solve these complex problems using one of the core elements of STEM: engineering. Engineering is not a new field. We can see elements of engineering dating back to ancient Egypt and its intricate pyramid designs, and we can still see it today in majestic buildings and in our everyday devices like phones.
Engineering — the application of science and mathematics to solve problems — has many different facets. These include, but are not limited to, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, aerospace, agricultural, biomedical, and software engineering. However, at the core of each of these types of engineering is the ability to critically think, iterate, think outside the box, and ultimately, solve problems.
Robotics is the perfect entry point — an engaging way to explore and experiment with abstract engineering concepts through tangible materials. Robotics brings ideas to life in visible ways, gives you the tools to solve problems that you see around you, and opens a door to the world of engineering in fun, collaborative, and extraordinary ways.
— Lauren Oberst - Educational Technology Consultant, VEX Robotics
Interviews With Students About Engineering
Watch and learn as teams and students describe how they approach different aspects of VEX Robotics.
Caution Tape team 839Z describes their robot design process
How JTMS Robotics used engineering to meet their competition goals
How team 99500D changed their robot design based on their code
The Robogremlins describe their robot design process
Build Instructions
For each platform, VEX Robotics provides numerous build instructions that builders can follow and use as a starting point. These instructions include complete mobile robot builds, as well as simple mechanisms and animal-inspired builds. By following these build instructions, builders can better understand how different parts and mechanisms work together.
These build instructions should be used as a starting point. Builders are encouraged to expand, modify, and customize their robot designs based on their needs.
Hero Robots
Each year VEX provides teams with a Hero Bot, a robot designed to be used as a starting point to play the current VEX IQ (VIQRC) and VEX V5 Robotics Competition (V5RC) games. These Hero Bot designs allow experienced teams to quickly assemble a robot to investigate the game's dynamics, and help new teams learn valuable building skills by creating a robot they can customize to compete with early in the season.
VIQRC Hero Bots
Read the article on getting started with VIQRC robot design from each year's game. Find the current year's competition kit build, then build the Hero Bot as a starting point before you make customizations.
V5RC Hero Bots
Read the article on getting started with V5RC robot design from each year's game. Find the current year's competition kit build, then build the Hero Bot as a starting point before you make customizations.
Engineering Design Process
The engineering design process is a series of steps engineers follow to solve a problem and design a solution. It is a methodical approach to problem solving. The engineering design process helps engineers test ideas, learn from mistakes, improve their solutions, and most importantly, trace back their work to understand how they reached their final design.
Mechanical Knowledge
The VEX Library has many articles about building VEX robots, including information on motors, drivetrains, mechanisms, structure, competition robots, pneumatics, and safety.
Electronics Usage
The VEX Library has many articles about using VEX electronics, including information on brains, controllers, sensors, and batteries.
Coding Your Robot
There are many ways to learn coding with VEX. This article will provide links and resources to everything you need.
Learn more at coding.vex.com