This document will provide detailed specifications, a bill of materials (BOM), and assembly instructions for the Official Competition Field. Please note that this field utilizes the VEX IQ Challenge Field Tiles & Perimeter kit (228-2550) developed by VEX Robotics. Instructions and specifications for this field perimeter are available in a separate document, and are also important for field assembly. This document is divided up into four sections: 1. Field Overview 2. Field Bill of Materials 3. Field Specifications 4. Field Assembly Instructions There is also an accompanying STEP file which can be imported into most 3D modeling programs (i.e. Autodesk Inventor). This 3D model not only shows the official setup of a VEX Add It Up Competition field, but also includes detailed models of all the individual field elements. For additional game-play detail, please refer to the VEX Add it Up competition manual.
The game VEX Add It Up is played on a 4 ft x 8 ft playing field, surrounded by 2-1/2 walls. The playing field floor tiles and walls are modular plastic tiles from the VEX IQ Challenge Field Tiles & Perimeter kit (228-2550) with integrated mounting holes for VEX IQ structural elements. The field is divided in half by a center structure consisting of four elevated scoring Goals and a horizontal Hanging Bar. Spread around the field are (36x) Small BuckyBalls, (4x) Large BuckyBalls, and (4x) Scoring Rings, for robots to manipulate and score. For more details and specific game-play rules, please refer to the VEX Add It Up manual.
Note: The center of the balls and rings are aligned using the edges of the floor tiles and/or the rows of the mounting pin holes as a reference guide.
There are two options available for the official VEX IQ Challenge playing field. The field is sold as a half field option and as a full field option. Two Half Field kits can be combined to equal a Full Field kit. The Playing Field is a standard configuration that will be reusable each year. 228-2550 VIQC Full Field (4ft x 8ft) Tiles & Perimeter Set $199.98 228-3051 VIQC Half Field (4ft x 4ft) Tiles & Perimeter Set $99.99 $199.98 228-2984 ALL Official VEX Add It Up Game Elements Contains All Game Elements for One Complete Field $99.97 (1x) 228-3054 VEX Add It Up Goal Kit (2x) 228-2055 VEX Add It Up Ball & Ring Kit $99.97 228-3054 VEX Add It Up Goal Kit (2x) Goal Structure (1x) Hanging Bar (1x) VEX IQ Elements Bag 228-3055 VEX Add It Up Ball & Ring Kit (18x) Small BuckyBall (2x) Large BuckyBall (2x) Scoring Ring $49.99 $24.99
This section will outline the specifications which are most important to teams designing a robot to compete in the VEX IQ Challenge Add It Up. Though many of the critical dimensions are included in this section, it may be necessary to consult the field assembly drawings for an additional level of detail. Field components may vary slightly from event to event. This is to be expected; teams will need to adapt accordingly. It is a good design practice to create mechanisms capable of accommodating variances in the field and game pieces.
The standard VEX IQ Challenge playing field is composed of (32x) floor tiles, (20x) straight wall segments, and (4x) corner wall segments. Each floor tile is 1 foot (305mm) square and molded in a very light grey plastic. Black lines 1 inch (25.4mm) wide for a + sign over the top of the tile; these lines are used to determine robot starting squares, corner goals, and can be read by advanced sensors on the robot.
The standard VEX IQ Challenge playing field is composed of (32x) 1ft square tiles. These tiles are arranged in a rectangle that is (4x) tiles wide by (8x) tiles long. A 2-1/2 wall is assembled to the outside of these tiles. All floor tiles and wall sections easily and quickly snap together.
The Small BuckyBall is a hollow plastic truncated icosahedron (a 32-sided object composed of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons). The diameter of the ball is approximately 80mm (3.15 inches) measured from pentagon to opposite pentagon. The ball weighs approximately 50 grams (0.11 pounds). The Large BuckyBall is a hollow plastic truncated icosahedron with a diameter of approximately 127mm (5.0 inches) from pentagon to opposite pentagon, and weighs approximately 100 grams (0.22 pounds). The Scoring Ring is a 7 inch diameter, hollow plastic torus that is 2 inches high, and weighs approximately 95 grams (0.21 pounds).
The Low Goal and High Goal are comprised of sheets of clear, 1/16 inch (1.6mm) thick polycarbonate plastic sheet held together using VEX IQ elements. The goal structure is attached to the playing field via 1x1 Snap Pins. The pair of goals supports the Hanging Bar.
A pair of Goal structures are used to capture and support the Hanging Bar. The Hanging Bar is a 44-7/8 inch (1140mm) long piece of ¾ inch diameter PVC pipe. The bottom of the Hanging Bar is 10 inches (254mm) above the ground.
The first step to assembling the Goal structure is to begin snapping the Chassis Corner Connectors to the Tall Goal Wall. These Corner Connectors will be used to attach the sides of the goal together and to attach it to the floor. Take note of the orientation of the Chassis Corner Connectors.
The second step to assembling the Goal structure is to begin snapping the Chassis Corner Connectors to the Short Goal Wall. Take note of the orientation of the Chassis Corner Connectors.
The third step of assembling the goal structure is to attach the two 2x Wide, 2x2 Corner Connectors to the Inner Goal Wall. Take careful note of the orientation of the Corner Connectors and the Inner Goal Wall.
The fourth step to assembling the goal structure is to take the smaller assemblies created in steps 1 through 3 and combine them together.
The final step to assembling a Goal is to mount all of the 1x1 Snap Pins to the lower face of the bottom corner connectors. These corner connectors will be used to attach the Goal structure to the Playing Field. Once this step is complete, a second complete Goal structure needs to be built. Note: If practicing directly on a tile, hardwood, linoleum, or similar non-official VEX IQ Challenge Playing Field, the (20x) 1x1 Snap Pins shown in this step do not have to be added to the bottom of the Goal. These Snap Pins are only used to attach the Goal to the Playing Field.
The second to last step to assembling the field is to capture the Hanging Bar in between the two Goal structures. Each Goal has a 27mm (1.06 inch) hole on one side; the PVC pipe is inserted through this hole. The Hanging Bar is captured in place by the end walls of the Goals after the Goals are mounted to the Playing Field.
The final step to fully assembling the Playing Field is to attach the combined Goal and Hanging Bar structure onto the assembled Playing FIeld. The 1x1 Snap Pins on the bottoms of the goals will align to specific clusters on the floor tiles. The next page has more detailed close-up top views of the field showing the exact locations of the correct four-hole clusters to snap the goals into.
Note: Goal and Hanging Bar structure are highlighted in green. The locations where the Goals are snapped onto the field tiles are highlighted in blue. The four highlighted floor tiles are located in the center of the long sides of the field.