VEX AIR Drone Competition Award Descriptions

This article describes what each Performance and Judged Award recognizes at a VEX AIR Drone Competition event and the criteria used to select it. It is written for judges, Judge Advisors, and Event Partners.

Definitions of the terms used here are maintained in the central glossary.

VEX AIR awards are built around what students do in this program: they plan flights, write code, learn to fly a Drone, and work with different partners. In Qualification and Finals Matches, two teams fly together as an Alliance and share one score, so the awards recognize cooperation as well as individual achievement.

Across the Judged Awards, judges look for effective communication, teamwork, professionalism, and a strong student-centered ethos. They also look for consistency across a team's Mission Notebook, its Team Interview, and how it actually flies. The criteria listed under each award focus on what sets that award apart.

Awards by Qualifying Spots

Not every award an event presents qualifies teams for a championship. Which awards receive qualifying spots depends on how many spots the event offers. The table shows the qualifying awards at each number of spots and how many awards that adds up to. Teamwork Champions counts as two awards, one for each team on the winning Alliance.

Performance Awards

Performance Awards recognize achievement in competitive gameplay and Match performance. They are determined by Match results and Drone Skills rankings and are presented at every tournament. Whether a Performance Award also qualifies a team for a championship depends on how many qualifying spots the event offers.

At a Glance

View full criteria for each award below this table.

Teamwork Champions Award

The Teamwork Champions Award is presented to both teams in the Alliance that posts the highest score in the Finals Matches. In VEX AIR, no Drone wins alone. Two Pilots share one Field, one clock, and one score. They coordinate routes, split Goals and flight tasks, and time Ring Tunnel Passes and landings together, all under a Scoring System that is revealed only after Alliance Selection.

Both teams on the winning Alliance receive the award equally, regardless of which Drone scored more points.

Overall Skills Champion Award

The Overall Skills Champion Award is presented to the top-ranked team in combined Skills. A team's combined Skills score is its highest Piloting Skills Match score plus its highest Autonomous Skills Match score.

Autonomous Skills Champion and Piloting Skills Champion Awards

These awards are presented at every tournament. They qualify teams for a championship only at events with more qualifying spots, as shown in the table above.

• The Autonomous Skills Champion Award is presented to the top-ranked team in Autonomous Skills.
• The Piloting Skills Champion Award is presented to the top-ranked team in Piloting Skills.

Judged Awards

Judged Awards are determined through Team Interviews, Mission Notebook evaluations, and observations at the event. Judges select these awards with support from the Judge Advisor. Event Partners choose whether to offer Judged Awards, but they may not recommend or assign the winners.

To offer Judged Awards, your event must include judging, with a Certified Judge Advisor and enough judges to interview every team (2 judges per 8–10 teams is recommended). An event that includes judging must offer both the Excellence and Mission Planning Awards.

A Mission Notebook is not required to compete, but a team needs one to be eligible for the Excellence and Mission Planning Awards. Every team should have the chance to be interviewed. A team may receive only one Judged Award, along with any Performance Awards.

At a Glance

View full criteria for each award below this table.

Excellence Award

The Excellence Award is the highest honor presented at an event. It recognizes a team that performs strongly in Matches and Skills, has a high-quality planning process, can explain its work, and shows authentic student ownership throughout the season. Recipients demonstrate achievement both on and off the Field.

• Meets all criteria of the Mission Planning Award.
• Finishes in the top 30% of teams in:
  • Qualification Rankings
  • Combined Skills Rankings
  • Autonomous Skills Rankings (with a score above zero)
• Shows good conduct, responsible Drone operation, and cooperation with partners.

Mission Planning Award

The Mission Planning Award recognizes the team that best shows how it develops and improves its flight strategy. Judges review the team's Mission Notebook and conduct a Team Interview. Students should be able to explain what they tried, what happened, and what they changed and why.

• Keeps a Mission Notebook that records goals, approaches tried, test results, and changes over time.
• Explains route choices, scoring priorities, and how the plan changes with each Scoring System.
• Plans for Battery use, Module configurations, shared airspace, and Drone recovery.

At events with more qualifying spots, the Mission Planning Award is also presented for 2nd and 3rd place.