Cañuelas Robotics League

About the Event

The Cañuelas Robotics League is an educational and competitive robotics event named in honor of Luis R. Cañuelas, a former professor at Miguel Such Vocational High School and a pioneer in STEM and robotics education.

As the mentor of Team 2205 “The Pioneers,” he inspired countless students with his passion for engineering, problem-solving, and student-centered learning. Since 2007, he has been actively promoting VEX Robotics across Puerto Rico, helping establish one of the island’s earliest high school robotics programs and guiding many students toward careers in technology and engineering.

Today, Luis R. Cañuelas continues his mission as a member of the Caribbean Robotics Academy (CRA) Board of Directors, supporting initiatives that expand access to STEM education and competitive robotics.

The Cañuelas Robotics League proudly carries his name to honor his enduring legacy as a teacher, mentor, and pioneer in Puerto Rico’s robotics community.

Event Format

The Cañuelas Robotics League is officially recognized as a Local Qualifying Event within the VEX Robotics Competition structure.

Local qualifying events take place all over the world, hosted in schools, private venues, and community spaces. They give teams the opportunity to compete, improve their skills, and earn qualification to higher-level events.

By participating in the Cañuelas Robotics League, teams have the chance to qualify for the Puerto Rico National Robotics Championship, where the best teams in the region compete for top honors and advancement opportunities.

Leagues are robotics events scheduled over multiple sessions across several weeks, offering teams both competitive and educational experiences. The event is structured as follows:

Ranking Sessions
Teams participate in qualifying matches to earn ranking points. Ranking Sessions may take place at the same or at different locations, and not all teams need to attend every ranking session.

Each Ranking Session includes the Robot Skills Challenge, where teams try to score as many points as possible in two ways:

Driving Skills (3 attempts): A team member manually drives the robot to complete the challenge.
Programming Skills (3 attempts): The robot runs an autonomous program without driver input.

Teams have a total of 6 attempts per session (3 driving + 3 programming), which must be completed within the timeframe determined by the event agenda. Scores are accumulated across all Ranking Sessions to determine the team’s official Robot Skills ranking for the league. For more information about the Robot Skills Challenge rules please visit the Official Game Manual.

The Cañuelas Robotics League goes beyond competition, giving participants a chance to learn, improve, and innovate while they compete. Each Ranking Session includes a 1-hour workshop led by CRA instructors to help students:

Improve technical and teamwork skills
Explore strategies and design improvements
Enhance their overall robotics experience

League Finals

The League Finals is the final session of the Cañuelas Robotics League and begins with Alliance Selection, where the top-ranked teams become alliance captains and take turns selecting partner teams for the elimination rounds.

During the League Finals, teams also participate in an in-person judging interview, where judges meet with team members to ask questions about their design process, teamwork, and approach to problem-solving.

The League Finals concludes with the Elimination/Final Matches, where alliances compete to determine the event champions. After the final matches, the Closing Ceremony takes place to present the award winners.

Event Awards

Excellence Award
The Excellence Award recognizes overall excellence in both the Judged Award and the Performance Award categories. The Excellence Award incorporates all the criteria of the Design Award, plus the added component of a team’s on-field performance at the event. The Excellence Award is a required award if judging occurs at an event.

Tournament Champions

Awarded to the alliance that wins the final round of the tournament.

Tournament Finalists

Awarded to the alliance that finishes as the runner-up in the tournament finals.

Robot Skills Champion

Awarded to the team with the highest combined Driving Skills and Programming Skills score at the event.

Design Award

The Design Award recognizes an organized and professional approach to the Engineering Design Process, project and time management, and team organization. Student demonstration of the Engineering Design Process is fundamental to the educational value of REC Foundation programs. The Design Award recognizes a team's ability to document and explain their Engineering Design Process via an Engineering Notebook and Team Interview. The Design Award is a required award if judging occurs at an event.
Robot Skills Champion

Judges Award

The Judges Award recognizes attributes Judges felt were deserving of special recognition. The Judges Award is a required award if judging is being conducted at an event. Optionally, a second Judges Award may be presented at an event at the discretion of the Event Partner and Judge Advisor. This second Judges award may be required for some event types.

Innovate Award

The Innovate Award recognizes an effective and well documented design process for a novel aspect of the team’s robot design or gameplay strategy. The submission of an Engineering Notebook is a requirement for the Innovate Award. The team must indicate to Judges where this aspect can be found in their Engineering Notebook via the Innovate Award Submission Information Form, which must be placed within their Engineering Notebook. Teams can only submit a single aspect for consideration at an event. The team who earns the Innovate Award should also meet all of the criteria for the Design Award.

Competition Path

Local Qualifying Events
Teams begin their journey in local qualifying events, such as the Cañuelas Robotics League, where they compete in ranking matches, Robot Skills challenges, and may earn judged awards. Performance at these events determines eligibility for higher-level competitions.

Regional Qualifying Events
Teams that qualify through local qualifying events are invited to Regional Qualifying Events like the Puerto Rico National Robotics Championship, where the top teams compete for national recognition and advancement opportunities.

International Event
Top-performing teams at the regional qualifying events may earn a coveted spot at the VEX Robotics World Championship, the largest robotics competition in the world, where teams from over 60 countries compete.

Event Tickets

To attend any of our robotics events, every attendee must get a ticket: this includes team members, coaches, mentors, volunteers, exhibitors and spectators. No walk-ins will be allowed. Make sure to register in advance to secure your spot!