AZ Vex HS and MS States

Volunteers needed

We invite high school students to help with middle school states.

We invite middle school students to help with high school states.

We also would love some of your judges and referee to help out, so we have kids everyone is familiar with.

Any team helping with the setup may practice on the fields after the setup is complete.

Flippable License Plate

I wanted to give everyone a heads up about the legality of “flippable” style license plates for this upcoming weekend and the subsequent state championships. Below is an example of “flippable” style license plates:

Without major modification, this style of license plate will generally not pass inspection this weekend or for both state championships. This is because they often do not meet the requirements under R26a and the subsequent note. They are quoted below for convenience:

“ R26a Robots must use the colored plates that match their Alliance color for each Match (i.e. red Alliance Robots must have their red plates on for the Match). It must be abundantly clear which color Alliance the Robot belongs to.

Note: If the plates are attached to opposite-color plates, then the incorrect color must be covered, taped over, or otherwise obscured to ensure that the correct Alliance color is abundantly clear to the Head Referee during a Match. Since License Plates are considered non-functional decorations, this is a legal non-functional use of tape. “

Emphasis added. When implemented, this style of mounting license plates often looks like the following:

Notice, both colors are exposed at the same time, and do not cover up the incorrect color plate. This style of license plate also has the tendency to fall off of the robot, removing any identification of the robot. This makes it difficult for referees to officiate the game as instead of paying attention to a split-second interaction, they have to instead spend mental time identifying what color alliance each robot is on since both colors are exposed.

Below is an example of R26a being followed perfectly, courtesy of 85142Z:

Notice, the blue alliance plates are permanently mounted to the robot, but the back side of the blue plates and the perimeter are covered in black tape such that when the red alliance plates are attached over the blue, there is no blue showing at all. This is the standard we want teams to strive for. Ultimately, it is up to the Head Referee if your robot is in compliance with R26a.

One example of mounting the plates in a way they can be easily attached and removed are with the VEXIQ pins included in the license plate kits to sandwich the plates on top of one another. This is the method 85142Z used in the pictures above. This is one simple example of how to meet R26a, there are of course many other ways of doing it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to nathan@18x18az.org.

~ Nathan Rossi