Illini Cornfield Clash Jr. Fall Event: VEX V5 Robotics Competition Middle and High School Teams

General Info

Welcome VEX V5 teams to the Fall Illini Cornfield Clash Jr., hosted by Illini VEX Robotics, and presented by Prismier Inc., at the University of Illinois’ Siebel Center for Design!

Hidden within the cornfields of Illinois, with spots to compete at Illinois States on the line, this is the competition you don’t want to miss! This event is open to the public, so feel free to invite family members and/or relatives to the competition to cheer your team on and watch these robots battle for a spot at States. Click here to learn more about this season’s game, VEX Override!

Hosting our robotics competitions means a lot to us as Illini VEX Robotics. With the numerous Cornfield Clash competitions hosted over the last few years, this has been our way of giving back to the robotics community that brought us to who we are today. By providing a one of a kind memorable competition experience, we hope that we continue to instill the passion and dedication of becoming future engineers.

IMPORTANT: This event takes place on the University of Illinois Campus. All attendees, including but not limited to students, coaches, competition volunteers, and spectators, must always adhere to University Policies and Guidelines as well as all City of Urbana / Champaign laws while attending. Failure to do so may result in removal from the event.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

We are very grateful for the generous support from Illini VEX Robotics’ team sponsors Prismier Inc. and Polymaker, as well as UIUC's Siebel Center for Design, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, and Grainger College of Engineering for helping us run this event at its best.

Event Day Preparation

There are several things all teams must prepare for the competition. Please read the following carefully to prepare your team to have the best time competing:

1. New Season = New Rules. Please make sure to read the game manual and any Q&As relevant for this event as it will be a first for many in attendence.

2. Go through the inspection checklist to confirm your robot will pass inspection smoothly at the event.

3. Double check you have all your robot related items, tools, spare parts, batteries, computers, and safety glasses for the competition.

4. IMPORTANT: We are using the Smart Field Control for this competition. Please double check that your robot brain is updated to the latest version (1.1.5) and your team’s number is set on the brain. Instructions to do so can be found in the Robot Preparation tab.

5. Each student and coach/mentor must have a completed and signed Consent Form in order to compete. This form can be found on the VEX Events page in the Dashboard section. Click on the Consent Form for your team, and fill out the appropriate form.

Event Day Info

See the Building Layout tab for a detailed event day map.

See the Food and Concessions tab for more details regarding those items.

To keep traffic around the building to a minimum, we ask that all spectators and parents be seated by the competition fields or standing along the ramp above the competition fields to allow space for teams, referees, judges, and volunteers to move around the competition fields with ease.

Dremeling at the pits is allowed, however, we discourage any excessive amounts of metal dremeling as this is hard to clean up post competition.

Note to Parents/Guardians/Relatives/Coaches/Mentors: As you cheer on your students during the competition, we kindly ask that you keep rule < G2 > of the game manual in mind. VEX Robotics is designed to be a student-centered program with the students leading their team and making all gameplay decisions regarding their robot and competition experience. During the competition, it is easy to get carried away to help your team succeed at the competition. By all means be encouraging and show your support, but allow them to take full ownership of their robot and make their own decisions throughout the event. This keeps the game fair for all teams and allows the students to experience and understand the complete engineering design cycle, allowing them to grow as engineers.