Teams compete head-to-head against one another for 3 minutes in a 10 X 10-foot arena. The team that scores all 3 of their soccer balls in their goal first wins.
Main Event
Event Description
Teams of 2-6 students will design and build two robots to compete together, using VEX IQ or Lego robot sets. Students will drive robots with remote controls and attempt to score points on the course. On the day of competition, they will face off against other teams in 2 on 2 matches to advance through a tournament bracket to the final match.
Common Core Standards and 4-C’s
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own ideas clearly and persuasively. Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking.
Designing and Programming your Robot
Robots must be designed and built to collect balls from the course and place them in the goals. For this event, robots may be controlled with a remote-control program or phone app. Robots should be small enough to maneuver around the course and shorter than 7 ¾” to fit into the goal area. This year teams can also design and 3D print custom components to improve their robot.
Course Layout
The course will consist of a 10’x10’ field as shown below constructed with ½” PVP pipe. There will be three 3” colored balls for each team to push into their goal to score points. The balls will be sitting on a 1” piece of PVP pipe. Goals will be 24 ½” wide and will have a 7 ¾” clearance underneath the crossbar with a 2” wide section around them for containing the balls.
Robots will be positioned at the start of the match in the spaces between the three colored balls of the opposing team.
(Blue team at the start)
Scoring
Teams will face off in 3-minute matches. The first team to place ALL 3 BALLS in the scoring section of the goal wins the round. If time runs out, the team with the highest score wins. If time runs out, AND both teams have the same score, next-to-score wins. Balls must remain in a scoring position to be counted. If a ball is bumped out, it will be tossed back into the middle of the field. Teams may attempt to remove balls from their opponents’ goal but may not enter the goal area. If any wheel enters the goal area, the robot will be placed outside the course and must be driven back to its own goal. Then it may be placed back on the field next to their own goal. If a ball was bumped out while the robot was in the goal, it will be returned.
Teams may attempt to remove balls from their opponents’ goal but may not enter the goal area. If any wheel enters the goal area, the robot will be placed outside the course and must be driven back to its own goal. Then it may be placed back on the field next to their own goal. If a ball was bumped out while the robot was in the goal, it will be returned.
Not OK
OK
Rules and Technical Requirements
- Robots must be constructed entirely with LEGO or VEX IQ pieces AND any student-designed 3D printed components. 3D printed components must be attached with VEX/Lego pieces (not tape/glue).
- There will be a 3-minute time limit on each match.
- Robots may be controlled with any type of remote-control program/app for the Soccer Bot Tournament, but must be programmed for the autonomous round.
- Robots are allowed to grab/hold a ball of their own color and drive it into the goal.
- Robots are allowed to hit/push/block a ball from the other team but may NOT “hold” it.
- If a ball is pushed out of bounds it will be tossed back into the middle of the field.
- A ball must remain in the scoring section of the goal to be counted. If bumped out (by either team) it will be tossed back into the middle of the field.
- If a ball goes into the opposing team’s goal, it will be tossed back into the middle of the field.
- If a robot breaks or loses connection, teams may pull it out to repair outside the field at that spot and must be driven back to its own goal before being placed back on the field.
- No team member may interfere with or touch the opposing team’s robots.
Autonomous Round:
Prior to the Soccer Bot Tournament, teams may choose to compete in a pre-programmed autonomous (NO remote-control driving) event for additional 20 points. For this challenge, the ball must simply be in the goal area beyond the raised crossbar.
Teams will write code to make their robot do the following:
- (5 pts) Drive Forward
- (5 pts each) Score 3 goals
Each robot must score at least 1 of the goals, one robot cannot score all 3. For this challenge the ball must simply be in the inner goal area, they do not need to be in the outer scoring area of the goal as in the main event. The balls will be placed 3 feet away from the goal, and 1 foot from each other in the starting area.
Reward Points
Teams will advance through the tournament bracket in an attempt to make it to the championship round and win the final match. 1st place will receive 50pts and each subsequent rank will receive 3 fewer points than the prior rank:
(2nd = 47pts, 3rd = 44pts, 4th = 41pts and so on).
| Points from Autonomous Round | 20 | See Autonomous Round Above |
| Points from Rank | 50 | 50 – 3 (Your Rank -1) |
| Points from Design Document | 30 | See Design Document on next page |
| TOTAL POINTS | 100 |
Design Document
Overview
Students will create a document outlining the process of designing and testing their robot. There will be four main sections: Research, Specifications, Programming, and Testing. The document will be worth 30 points. Design Documents must be converted to a PDF file before uploading to the ToT App Submission Portal on Teams no later than 10:00 pm on March 15, 2024.
Research
In this section, students will use the internet or other sources to search for facts and information about Robotic Space Exploration. They should provide specific examples of robots in space and cite the sources they used for their research. finally, they should describe how this research relates to their project.
Specifications
In this section, students will list the dimensions of their robot (length, width, height). They will also include labeled pictures of their robot to showcase different components and designs.
Control
Students will explain how they controlled their robot to complete the tasks. They should include an image of the controller and describe what each button/joystick is used for. They could also include an image of their brain and list what motors are connected to each port.
Testing
In the final section, students will describe the testing of their robot and what modifications they made to improve its performance on the course. This should include physical changes to the robot such as changing the wheels, modifications to the arm/claw, or even redesigning the robot. It could also include changes to the programming/settings. Students should include a data table showing the results of different trials.
Sample Data Table
| Trial | Result | Adjustments |
| 1 | Win | Had poor ball control so we modified the arm to grab the ball better. |
| 2 | Loss | Increased the power on the motors to 100% to be faster |
| 3 | Win | Used the larger wheels on the robot for even more speed |
Getting Help
Contact Chris Fuge at Chris.Fuge@fresnounified.org or Celeste Avedikian at Celeste.Avedikian@fresnounified.org if you have any further questions regarding this event.