On January 14th, the teams 80N – Nightcrawler, and team 80X – X-23, allied with team 2700A of the Baldwin School to take the tournament championship at the 5th annual Vex Eastern PA Regional tournament. This middle school event saw other Vexmen teams win awards with team 80G – Gambit – winning the build award, 80W – Wolverine – winning the design award, team 80N – Nightcrawler – winning the judges award, and team 80X – X-23 – winning the amaze award.
The Haverford team 169Y won the Excellence award and qualified for Vex World Championships in April. They are also currently top of the leader board of the Technomage League. Best of luck to them.
 Build Award to Team 80G |
 Design Award to Team 80W |
This is the second week of matches for the Vexmen. The improvements and playability of the robots has increased dramatically. More teams are scoring in the top goals now as well. Some use six bar linkages like 80G, some a compound arm design like 80X, some use linear lifts plus a four bar linkage like 80R, and some use scissor lifts like 80N and 80P. Each team is finding its own way to score and play Gateway effectively.
But nothing beats driving the wheels off the robot. Team 80J muscled their away to second place through skillful driving, defense, and scoring. Team 80N shoved aside 169Y in a battle for the high goal in the finals 3rd match to help capture the high goal to take the match.
It took a whopping four matches in the semi-final to have teams 80J, 80G, and 80D to be eliminated by 80N, 80X, and 2700A. Team 80G had an autonomous routine to score an initial ball in the low goal giving it precious time to attack. Team 80N reached over the mid goals from their interactive zone within a second to spare ahead of 80G attempting scoring in that goal. Team 80X scored center the high goal and other ower goals. These matches were closely contested the entire way and showed the skill of the Vexmen teams.
 Tournament Champions Teams 80N, 80X, and 2700A |
 Excellence Award Winners 169Y |
On Sunday, the Vexmen high school teams and some middle school teams attended the Technomage league event at KYHS in Merion Station, PA. Team 81A – Apocalypse – rose in the league rankings to second place. Team 80X is currently 5th, 80N rose to 8th, and 80C is in 9th heading into the playoffs on 1/28.
Next week, the Vexmen head to Christopher Dock school in Lansdale PA for a return visit to Dockbots! See you then!
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Tournament Champions: Team 80N – Nightcrawler
Tournament Champions: Team 80X – X-23 Build Award: Team 80G – Gambit Judges Award: Team 80N – Nightcrawler Design Award: Team 80W – Wolverine Amaze Award: Team 80X – X-23 |
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Robot Events
Vex Scores
