About the Event

The Regional Tournament is an official VEX Robotics Competition local qualifying event hosted by Caribbean Robotics Academy (CRA). This event brings together teams from across the region for a weekend of educational and competitive robotics experience, offering them the opportunity to qualify for the Puerto Rico National Robotics Championship.

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Unlike leagues, which are held over several weeks, this regional event takes place in one session, making it a high-energy competition weekend that includes qualifying matches, Robot Skills challenges, and judged awards.

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Event Format

The Regional Tournament 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.

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By participating in the Regional Tournament, 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.

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The Regional Tournament is organized as an Open Tournament, welcoming any registered team to compete. The event is structured as follows:

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Qualification Matches
All teams participate in qualification matches randomly paired in two alliances, one blue, one red,  to determine rankings based on performance and alliance results.

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Alliance Selection

After qualification matches are completed, the top-ranked teams become alliance captains and take turns selecting partner teams for the elimination rounds.

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Elimination/Final Matches

Teams advance to elimination rounds to determine the event champions.

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Robot Skills Challenge
Teams may also participate in 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  (3 driving + 3 programming), which must be completed within the timeframe determined by the event agenda. For more information about the Robot Skills Challenge rules please visit the Official Game Manual. ​

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Remote Interviews

Judges meet with the team virtually one week before the event to ask questions about their design process, teamwork, and approach to the challenge.

In-Person Follow Up Interviews

During the competition, judges conduct a short follow-up interview to confirm the team’s answers and ensure that all work is student-led in alignment with the REC Foundation’s student-centered policy.​

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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.

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Tournament Champions

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

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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.

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Robot Skills 2nd Place

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

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Robot Skills 3rd Place

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

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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. 

​Think Award

The Think Award recognizes effective and consistent use of coding techniques and programming design solutions to solve the game challenge. 

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Amaze Award

The Amaze Award recognizes a consistently high-performing and competitive robot.

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Sportsmanship Award

The Sportsmanship Award recognizes a high degree of good sportsmanship, helpfulness, respect, and a positive attitude both on and off the competition field.

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​Inspire Award

The Inspire Award recognizes passion for the competition and positivity at the event.

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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 Events
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 40 countries compete.