Welcome to the Vex Bulletin Newsletter, your news source for everything related to RadioShack's Vex Robotics Design System. This newsletter will be distributed every other month, featuring different news items that might interest you. For those of you who don't know, the Vex Robotics Design System is a new robotics platform designed by RadioShack and engineered for FIRST competition (www.usfirst.org/Vex/). Vex allows young people to create robots that can do amazing things while learning about science and technology. With Vex you get everything you need: chassis, wheels, gears, motors, a controller and more: to build virtually any robotic device the mind can conceive. For more information please visit www.vexrobotics.com. The Hitchhikers' Vexperience By Tom Murphy, Middle College High School (San Pablo, CA) Vex has provided the most fruitful engineering design platform in all the years I have worked with students and robots. The majority of my experience has been with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an exemplary program for enthusing students to apply theory and practice to solving real problems. By relaxing the open-endedness of the hardware fabrication, Vex increases the ability to do engineering exploration. Mintra Saefong and Lin Cruz of the West County Hitchhikers compete in the finals of the first ever FIRST Vex Challenge in Atlanta last spring. The high school team I coach with Eric Reed, The Hitchhikers, was invited by RadioShack to be one of the 53 teams competing in Atlanta last April to debut the platform (www.usfirst.org/Vex/). Our entry, "Gimpy," came in second during the qualifying phase. It was a successfully flawed bot, as its name suggests. We had a month to design, build, and test our entry using parts from three Vex kits. It was repeatedly rebuilt from scratch, typically in one or two 5-8 hour sessions. Two things are worthy of note from that last sentence. The rebuilding from scratch could have been phrased equally well as "daily prototyping took place." The most wonderful aspect of Vex is that it supports design exploration. In the course of the month, students designed and built a three speed automatic transmission, as well as six-wheel drive. Take a look at the Vex kit of parts, neither immediately leaps to mind as a possible project, in fact, some might say it is impossible. Vex supports the heart of the engineering method, namely, to have a passion for failure. This is the way of engineering advancement, to fearlessly try and do based on knowledge and experience. The second point of note is the reference to 5-8 hour sessions. The class I ran supporting this effort is a community college robotics class nominally meeting three times a week from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. However, during the month of building we were regularly meeting from 3:30 till past 11pm. We even pulled a few all night build sessions. How many classes are there where students beg the teacher to have the class run longer? Vex will remain a key component to our robotics education program. In fact, after Atlanta, we ran a RoboEducators sponsored summer robotics boot camp (http://contracosta.edu/hpc/info/about_CCC_HPC/history/#BootCamp) for middle and high school teachers and their potential student team members. We followed that by kicking off registration for our own local Vex Robotics Decathlon (http://contracosta.edu/robotics/Vex_Decathlon.pdf) for San Francisco/Bay Area teams which will happen on December 10, 2005. It is designed to be low cost for schools: low registration fee, low kit of parts cost, no high transportation/lodging/food fees. The competition field is designed to be low cost and easily transportable. Plug Into the New Programming Kit The new programming kit unlocks new possibilities for Vex, and lessons you can teach in the class room. RadioShack has exciting news on the expansion of the Vex platform! Eight new accessories are now available and will enable you and your students to create more advanced robots as well as take the competition to the next level. The Programming Kit is the key to unlocking the true power of your team's robot. It programs the robot's behavior using a simple interface that you will grow to appreciated. Your young inventors can program the robot to do anything they dream up and assemble - turn a door knob to let the dog out, empty the trash or do homework (well, not quite, but we'll get there one day!) These sensor accessories are going to help you power your robot autonomously: Line Tracker Kit - Lets your young inventors create an autonomous robot by programming it to follow a line over a surface. Ultrasonic Range Finder Kit - Navigate your team's robot through an obstacle course using this high frequency sound wave that detects objects in its path. Optical Shaft Encoder Kit - This kit aids in the creation of autonomous behavior by enabling the robot to accurately measure distances for navigation purposes. Light Sensor Kit - Command your robot's brain to behave differently to beams of light. In addition, RadioShack is also pleased to introduce a few more accessories that will help your robots move like they haven't before: Omni-Directional Wheel Kit - Graduate your robot onto tougher surfaces using this kit, which will help your robot achieve greater mobility, overcoming the smallest of obstacles in its course. Sprocket and Chain Kit - Enables the transfer of working power to a distant point (or multiple points) on your team's robot. Tank Tread - Hardly any terrain will be too fierce for your robot using this enhanced tread, which dramatically increases design flexibility and allows robot to navigate harsh terrain with ease. Look for these accessories in RadioShack stores and on www.vexrobotics.com now!

Vex Curricula Available Now! Inspiring your students just got a lot easier. Four robotics industry leaders - Intelitek, The Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University, Roboeducators, and NASA's Robotics Curriculum Clearinghouse - have created a set of new, innovative curricula to take you and your students through the world of robotics. Each curriculum gives teachers a simple, inspiring and effective teaching alternative to a standard lesson plan. Coupled with the Vex Robotics System, these courses offer an inventive way to help students explore math, science and technology. More information on each of these programs is available at: http://www.vexrobotics.com/index.php/curricula Do you have a positive Vex experience you'd like to share with RadioShack and the rest of the world? Contact us and let us know what you and your kids think about Vex. E-mail lhererra@gcigroup.com.

Get Your Team in the Game! FIRST Vex Challenge Regional Competitions Coming Soon RadioShack and FIRST are now accepting entries for the FIRST Vex Challenge starting near you this December. Your students will be able to put the brain and brawn of their creations to the test as RadioShack and FIRST are developing a creative and challenging game that will spur creativity and teamwork. Teams will compete against their regional peers in a series of heart-pounding matches designed to test robot design and capability, technical skills, team work, communication and performance. Last year's winning alliance included teams from Southwest High School (Fort Worth, Texas), Herndon High School (Herndon, Virginia) and Grady High School (Atlanta, Georgia). Where will your team place this year? The regionals will kick off this winter with competitions in Fort Worth, Texas; Orangeburg, S.C.; Hartford, Conn.; Newark, Del.; Duluth, Georgia; St. Louis and culminate at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta on April 27, 2006. Last year, fifty-three teams from around the world, including the United States and Singapore, participated in the national pilot competition in Atlanta, GA, giving those students a chance to build new friendships and experience everything from co-opetition, dedication and surprise victories. Don't miss the fun and challenge of this year's FIRST Vex Challenge! FIRST Vex Challenge teams can register for the regional competition at my.usfirst.org/fvc. More information, including the FVC team registration process is located at www.usfirst.org/Vex/.