VEX IQ Coaches - Starting the Season

IQ Coaches - Starting the season

This document serves as a general guideline for starting the new season with your VEX IQ team. Feel free to adjust the steps as needed for your team. Please send ideas, suggestions, corrections, etc. to the VEX Coordinator.

Everywhere this document says “download”, the link is available on the Haiku page, under the current season’s tab, Download & Resource Links.

Verify VIRTUS training & complete if needed

Time: 0 minutes

  • Within a week of the Parent Meeting, the VEX Coordinator will contact you to let you know whether or not your VIRTUS requirements have been met.

  • If requirements have been met, skip to the next section. Otherwise continue below.

Time: 4-5 hours over several weeks

Do this if the VIRTUS requirements have not been met.

  • Go to the Virtus Training for Volunteers tab on the VEX Haiku page.

  • Sign up for a training, submit all the paperwork and attend the class, and do the online registration as required.

  • Notify VEX Coordinator the requirements have been met.

Set first team meeting

Time: 1-2 hours

Do this within a week of the VEX Parent Meeting. Inactivity leads to lost interest.

  • Get your current roster from the Haiku page.

  • Determine the first team meeting date based on team’s assigned lab time.

  • Contact player’s parents by phone (preferably) and introduce yourself. Ask parents if they would be willing to assist or cover for you when you’ll be absent, so the team can continue making progress..

  • Explain expectations of players and parents:

  • Objective is for players to have fun, learn about good sportsmanship and fair play, and learn how to get along with others.

  • Players are expected to make as many team lab times as possible, this is when the robot is built, tested, programmed, and prepared for league and tournaments.

  • Players are expected to attend as many league nights and tournaments as possible, at least 3 players need to be present for the tournament to “count”.

  • We understand life happens and not all players will make all labs or events.

  • Parents need to help from time-to-time to support coach, by taking a lab time or assisting player with research needed for a team objective.

Prepare first team meeting

Time: 1-2 hours

Do this right after scheduling first team meeting.

  • Download the game manual, print it and study it. This is the guide to how the challenge works, scoring, robot sizing requirements, etc. There’s nothing technical but there is some “figuring out” involved. Be prepared to discuss the game parameters with the team.

  • Download IQ Clawbot basic building instructions, print it and look it over. Ultimately the team’s robot won’t look like this, but it will help you visualize the building process and the basic ideas of how the robots work. Be prepared to discuss the basic building parameters with the team.

  • Run a quick inventory to make sure you have at least the main components: Joystick controller, motors, wheels, sensors, etc. An inventory sheet will be available soon. If items are missing please contact VEX Coordinator asap so replacements can be procured.

Run first team meeting

Time: about 2 1/2 hours (½ hour set up before the meeting, then a 2-hour meeting with the players)

Players will take a few minutes to introduce themselves, and they’ll look at the team’s current robot. They'll review some of the general operations of that robot and how it's controlled. Then they’ll go to the Flex lab and watch a few YouTube videos of this year's challenge. They'll see different robots that have solved the challenge in different ways, then take some time to discuss how points are scored. Then they'll brainstorm ideas on how the robot might work to solve this year’s challenge. They will also brainstorm and select a team name.

  • Before the team meeting starts, set up a laptop in the Lab so you can show YouTube videos and discuss the rules/guidelines with the team.

  • After players have arrived, introduce coaches & assistants, and have players introduce themselves.

  • If your robot is still working from last year, have an experienced player quickly show the team how the controller works, and allow each team member to drive it for maybe 30 seconds (don’t want this to take too long). If there is an autonomous program loaded into the robot, have an experienced player run the autonomous program so the team can see the robot running by itself.

  • Move to the FLL to show the YouTube videos, then review the rules and guidelines with the team. (See Downloads & Resource Links page under the Season tab on the Haiku page.)

  • Locate your kit, the kit number and team designation (such as 2626U) will be marked on the boxes that go with your kit.

  • Players are not to touch other team’s kits. They don’t want other teams touching their stuff, they need to leave other team’s stuff alone.

  • Introduce the lab book, and discuss how records of meetings, tests, motor configurations, etc. should be logged. The logbook may be reviewed by judges at tournaments, and points are awarded based on good documentation.