VEX is an arm under Robotics@ Apex in SST.
In my two years in VEX robotics, I have joined the 2022-2023 Spin Up season and the 2023-2024 Over Under season.

About VEX Robotics

In VEX robotics, I participated under the VRC category where we used the V5 system and were limited to:

18" x 18" x 18" robot
8 motors
limited expansion of bot parts.

The game is played on a 12' x 12' field with walls on all 4 sides.
*(dimensions are in imperial because VEX is an American based competition)

Gameplay

VEX is played in a 2v2 format where each team (alliance) has 2 robots on the field.
The game is played in a 15 second autonomous period followed by a 1 minute 45 second driver controlled period.
In the last 30 seconds of the game, there are ways to obtain bonus points which vary across competitions.
There is also a subsection of VEX called VEX Skills where teams compete to get the highest score in a 1 minute autonomous period and a 1 minute driver controlled period.

2022-2023 Spin Up

The Spin Up season was my first time participating in VEX robotics.
I was a fresh trainee and had to learn everything from scratch ...and to be honest I didn't do much during the season, I was too scared that I would mess up the robot. This wasn't helped by the fact that this was the first VEX competition that our school was participating in after a 3 year break and the pandemic. All 5 members of the team were new to VEX and we each had our own struggles.

Game Overview

At the simplest level, Spin Up requires a robot that can pick up discs and shoot them into a goal.

The two alliances (red and blue) on opposite sides of the field have to shoot discs into their respecive goals.

In Spin Up there are multiple ways to score points:

shoot discs into the high scoring zone (5 points)
push discs into the low scoring zone (1 points)
Rotate rollers at the edges of the field to score points (10 points)
Endgame robot expansion (3 points for each tile covered)
Autonomous Period bonus (10 points)

Robot Design

The robot was a simple 4 wheel drive with a single motor flywheel shooter and single motor intake array.

Planning

This image shows a picture taken during the planning phase of the robot. It was a sketch on where we wanted the flywheel and the structure we needed to build it.

Testing

Intake Array

Testing the intake subsystem of the robot.
It didn't work as intended, the discs kept getting stuck in the intake array.

Flywheel

Testing the outtake subsystem of the robot.
The flywheel worked, however, it took a long time to Spin Up and reduced cycle time.

Final Robot

Shoutout to Zachary, my teammate who built the flywheel.

Reflections

During the final competition, we did not fare too well.
Our robot was not able to shoot the discs into the goal and we were not able to score many points.

However, looking at all the other robots, I realised that we were not the only ones who struggled. We were able to learn from the winners and see what we could improve on for the next season as well as made new friends from other schools and strengthen the VEX community in Singapore.

2023-2024 Over Under

The Over Under season was my second time participating in VEX robotics.
This time I was more confident in my abilities and took on a more active role in the team. As I became the ExCo of the club and entered Secondary 3, I had to juggle between my responsibilities and competitions. This season was also the first time that our school had 4 teams participating in VEX robotics.

My group was made up of 5 members, 4 of which were my juniors whom I had the pleasure of working with for a year. Seeing them grow as we shared highs and lows pulls at my heartstrings.

I am proud of the work we did and the bot we built together.

Humans (left to right):
Klifton (me), Jian An, Ying Xuan, Jayden, Kevin

Game Overview

Over Under is a game where robots have to pick up triangular shaped balls (triballs) and place them in goals.

Of the 60 Triballs Availible, 12 of which are on the field.
The two alliances (red and blue) on opposite sides of the field have to shove the triballs into their respective goals.

In Over Under there are multiple ways to score points:

Triballs in goals (5 points)
Triballs on your side of the field (2 points)
Endgame robot hang on pipes
(20 points for highest elevation, decreasing in 5 points for each elevation level)
Autonomous Period bonus (8 points)