This glossary defines the key terms used throughout the Global Robotics and Science Foundation Library, across all articles.
A
- Amaze Award
A Judged Award recognizing a team that has built a highly capable, competitive, and consistently performing robot, demonstrating thoughtful engineering and execution.
- Autonomous Coding Skills Match
A Robot Skills Match in which a single robot operates during a one-minute Autonomous Period. There is no Driver Controlled Period; teams may end early to record a Skills Stop Time.
- Awards Tab
The section of an event page that lists the awards offered at that event.
B
- Beginning
A rubric performance level indicating the team member shows initial awareness of a skill or concept but needs significant support; work may be incomplete or contain major errors.
- Build Award
A Judged Award recognizing excellence in robot construction, craftsmanship, reliability, and attention to detail.
C
- Championship Event
A culminating competition for a defined conference, region, state, province, country, or approved program pathway, where qualified teams compete for awards, recognition, and advancement.
- Coach
An adult mentor, educator, parent, or team representative who supports and guides students throughout the season while fostering student leadership, participation, collaboration, and learning.
- Competition League
An approved series of competition sessions held over multiple dates and culminating in a final league championship session, giving teams additional opportunities to compete and improve over time.
- Create Award
A Judged Award recognizing a creative engineering solution to the challenges of the current season's game.
D
- Design Award
A required Judged Award (when judging occurs) recognizing a team that best demonstrates an organized, student-driven Engineering Design Process through its Engineering Notebook and Team Interview. Requires a Fully Developed Engineering Notebook.
- Developing
A rubric performance level indicating partial understanding and some skill application, but still needing occasional guidance and practice.
- Developing Notebook
An Engineering Notebook that does not yet contain sufficient evidence of a complete iteration of the Engineering Design Process and is therefore not considered Fully Developed.
- Digital Engineering Notebook
An Engineering Notebook submitted digitally via events.vex.com, either in a digital format (such as a Google Doc) or as a scanned and uploaded physical notebook.
- District Administrator
A contact who oversees and supports robotics programs across a school district or educational organization, helping coordinate registration, funding, communication, and program growth. Not required to serve as a Primary Coach. Examples include Career and Technical Education (CTE) Directors, STEM Coordinators, Curriculum Specialists, District Technology Coordinators, Principals, Assistant Superintendents, and other educational administrators.
- Driving Skills Match
A Robot Skills Match in which one team operates its robot during a one-minute Driver Controlled Period. There is no Autonomous Period; teams may end early to record a Skills Stop Time.
E
- Energy Award
An optional Nominated Award recognizing a team that brings enthusiasm, excitement, positivity, and spirit to the competition.
- Engineering Design Process
A series of steps to identify a problem, develop solutions, build and test designs, and improve them until they work effectively.
- Engineering Notebook
The student-created document recording a team's Engineering Design Process, submitted to be evaluated by judges at an event.
- Event Partner (EP)
The official VEX-certified volunteer who serves as overall manager of an event's volunteers, venue, materials, and all other considerations. The Event Partner may not serve as Judge or Judge Advisor at their own event or assign Judged Awards.
- Exemplary
A rubric performance level indicating advanced understanding, with skills applied accurately, effectively, and independently, often exceeding expectations.
- Excellence Award
The highest honor at an event and a required Judged Award (when judging occurs), recognizing overall excellence across both judged and performance categories. Includes all Design Award criteria plus strong on-field performance.
F
- Finals Match
A gameplay match used to determine the champion alliance after Qualification Matches. Also known as an Elimination Match in V5RC, VAIRC, and VURC.
- Financial Contact
The contact who manages invoices, payments, and financial matters for a team, and may receive billing communications and helps ensure registration fees and event payments are submitted on time. Need not be the Primary Coach. Examples include school bookkeepers, organization administrators, teachers, coaches, parents or guardians, and business office personnel.
- Fully Developed Notebook
An Engineering Notebook that provides sufficient evidence of a complete and iterative Engineering Design Process. Required for the Design, Innovate, and Excellence Awards.
G
- Global Robotics and Science Foundation
The nonprofit organization that oversees the VEX Robotics Competitions and supports the pathway to the VEX Robotics World Championship.
- Grade Level
The competition level in which a team participates (Elementary School, Middle School, High School, or College), determining event, award, and championship eligibility. Selecting the correct grade level matters because it affects event eligibility, qualification and advancement opportunities, awards eligibility, and championship eligibility. Teams are responsible for ensuring that all students meet the age and grade requirements in the current season’s competition rules.
I
- Innovate Award
A Judged Award recognizing a novel, well-documented aspect of a team's robot design or gameplay strategy that is actively used at the event. Requires meeting all Design Award criteria.
- Inspire Award
A Judged Award recognizing a team that embodies the passion, enthusiasm, and spirit of the program through teamwork, leadership, and positive community impact.
- Invitational Event
An event where participation is limited by published criteria such as capacity, geography, school/organization type, or prior qualifications. May offer advancement when approved.
J
- Judge
A person who evaluates teams, interviews participants, reviews Engineering Notebooks, and scores performance. Minimum age varies by program (VIQRC 18+, V5RC 20+, VURC/VAIRC 21+).
- Judge Advisor (JA)
The person who coordinates all judges at an event, organizes judge volunteers, guides deliberations, and shares judged award results with the Event Partner. Must be 21+ and complete current-season certification.
- Judged Award
An award determined by judges at an event using standardized rubrics, based on interviews, notebook evaluations, and event observations.
- Judges Award
A required Judged Award (when judging occurs) that lets judges recognize a team with noteworthy qualities — such as perseverance, growth, or team spirit — not captured by other awards.
- Judges' Room
A secure, private room where judges deliberate.
M
- Mentor of the Year Award
A Recognition Award honoring a mentor who inspires, guides, and supports students in STEM. Determined by the Event Partner.
N
- Nominated Award
An optional award offered at judged or non-judged events allowing volunteers and/or judges to recognize enthusiasm, respect, and gracious conduct (e.g., Sportsmanship Award, Energy Award).
O
- Open Tournament
An official competition event open to all eligible organization types within a program, though still subject to capacity, grade level, deadlines, and published requirements.
- Organization
A school, club, nonprofit, university, homeschool group, or other community-based entity responsible for managing one or more teams. An organization may register and manage teams within the available VEX Robotics competition programs.
P
- Partner of the Year Award
A Recognition Award honoring an organization that provides outstanding support and resources to make robotics programs accessible. Determined by the Event Partner.
- Performance Award
An award based solely on in-match/gameplay performance (e.g., Tournament Champion, Teamwork Champion, Robot Skills Champion). Does not affect Judged Award eligibility.
- Primary Coach
The adult responsible for a team's registration and its main point of contact, managing team information and records, and receiving important communications about registration and events. Only one per team, and the only contact who can initiate a team transfer. A team may have additional contacts, but only one person may serve as the Primary Coach at any time.
- Proficient
A rubric performance level indicating solid understanding, with skills consistently applied correctly and independently.
- Program
The official VEX Robotics competition program in which a team participates (VEX IQ Robotics Competition™, VEX V5 Robotics Competition™, VEX U Robotics Competition™, VEX AI Robotics Competition™), determining rules, robot requirements, and eligibility. Each program is designed for specific age groups and offers its own game challenges, events, and championship opportunities.
- Program Support Manager
A Global Robotics and Science Foundation staff member who manages team and event support for a specific region.
Q
- Qualification Match
A match in which teams are randomly paired with alliance partners and receive a shared score that determines ranking and advancement to Finals/Elimination Matches.
- Qualifying Award
An award that qualifies a team for a higher competition pathway, such as a Championship Event or the VEX Robotics World Championship.
- Qualifying Event
An officially sanctioned competition event that meets the criteria in the Event Qualification Guide and may award advancement opportunities.
R
- Remote Judges
Judges who evaluate teams, interview participants, review Engineering Notebooks, and score performance remotely online.
- Robot Skills-Only Event
An official event where teams participate in Robot Skills Challenge matches without traditional qualification or elimination matches, providing additional chances to post official Robot Skills scores. May be offered in person or via Live Remote Skills (LRS).
S
- School-Based Event
An event limited to teams affiliated with eligible schools, districts, or approved school-based organizations.
- Scrimmage
A practice or training event for testing robots, running practice matches, training volunteers, and preparing for the season. Provides no official rankings, judged awards, Robot Skills rankings, or advancement.
- Secondary Coach
An optional additional adult who helps manage a team and its communications and can provide support when the Primary Coach is unavailable. Examples include assistant coaches, mentors, teachers, parents or guardians, and organization administrators. Secondary Coaches cannot initiate a team transfer. Designating at least one Secondary Coach is encouraged to help maintain continuity if personnel or availability change.
- Signature Event (VEX Robotics Signature Event)
A high-level competition offering an experience beyond a standard local event. Approved Signature Events provide direct advancement to the VEX Robotics World Championship.
- Sportsmanship Award
An optional Nominated Award recognizing a team that consistently demonstrates respect, professionalism, fairness, and positive conduct.
T
- Team
An officially registered competition team participating in a Global Robotics and Science Foundation competition program, as referenced in the Official VEX Robotics Competition Game Manual.
- Team Eligibility
An officially registered competition team participating in a Global Robotics and Science Foundation competition program, as referenced in the Official VEX Robotics Competition Game Manual.
- Team Interview
A conversation between team members and judges, who ask questions to assess students' ability to explain their robot design, engineering process, teamwork, and season experiences.
- Team Number
The unique identifier assigned to a team. Each organization receives a base number, with each team identified by a letter suffix (e.g., 12345A, 12345B). For example, an organization assigned team number 12345 may register several teams: 12345A, 12345B, and 12345C. Each letter represents a separate team and must be registered individually.
- Teacher of the Year Award
A Recognition Award honoring a teacher who shows exceptional leadership and commitment to a positive educational experience. Determined by the Event Partner.
- Think Award
A Judged Award recognizing excellence in coding, programming, and software development. Requires an Autonomous Coding Skills score greater than zero.
- Tournament Manager
The official software program used to organize and run VEX Competitions.
V
- V5RC
VEX V5 Robotics Competition.
- VAIRC
VEX AI Robotics Competition.
- VEX Robotics World Championship
The highest-level international championship event within the Global Robotics and Science Foundation competition programs.
- VIQRC
VEX IQ Robotics Competition.
- Volunteer of the Year Award
A Recognition Award honoring an individual whose dedication and service make robotics events and programs possible. Determined by the Event Partner.
- VURC
VEX U Robotics Competition.
W
- Waitlist
A list allowing teams to express interest in a full event. Placement does not guarantee participation.
- Workshop
A non-competitive event designed to provide teams, coaches, and volunteers with educational opportunities.