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The official VEX V5 Robotics Competition Question & Answer system has closed for this season.

Official Q&A: VEX V5 Robotics Competition 2024-2025: High Stakes

Usage Guidelines All Questions

2583: Template Coding and G4

55286A
27-Feb-2025

<G4>The Robot must represent the skill level of the Team.

Are we allowed to use template code, pre-written code, or any external resources that aren't written by our team when programming our robot for the competition? These codes would not be representing the skills of the team in programming, which could lead to strategic advantage for multiple teams, using the same coding template.

Specifically, in a.III.. For example, if a Coder leaves a Team, then that Team’s Robot must still represent the skill level of the Team without that Coder. One way to accomplish this would be to ensure that the Coder teaches or trains a “replacement” Coder in their absence. However, most teams utilizing a coding template does not understand the basic logic behind the template, which is similar but far more severe than the situation listed in the G4, as there was never a coder who could accomplish everything in the template in the first place.

G4  
Answered by committee
13-Mar-2025

As stated in the REC Foundation Student-Centered Policy,

Teams that utilize example code or custom libraries from outside sources should use caution. The program used should represent the students’ efforts and abilities. Blindly using code without understanding the code functionality is not consistent with the educational goals of this program. Students should be able to understand and explain the code, and students should be able to demonstrate that they can program on a level equivalent to the code used in their mechanism.

If a Student Team member understands the Team's code well enough to explain it accurately in conversation or code comments, the Team has met the requirements of rule <G4>. The overall intent of the rule and policy is to ensure that Student Team members are learning, understanding, and applying coding knowledge and skills.