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Team engineering notebook page shows sketches of the goals and destinations to the left with descriptions and calculations to the right. Each diagram is described in detail explaining the purpose of the calculation and how that informs the next steps.
A team applies math to plan a route in their engineering notebook.

The Advantage of "Robot Math"

Robotics teams that effectively use math concepts, like proportional reasoning and scale, usually have the upper hand in competitions. When these teams form alliances with others during the competition, they can quickly make changes, like mapping out a new path or determining the correct motor rotation values for their autonomous programs. Knowing the math behind the changes can save valuable time. Teams then use that time to make other physical or program changes to their robots that can increase their chances of winning. Using "robot math" like proportional reasoning and scale can definitely maximize a team's performance.

In the image above, the team is using the actual measurements of the field that VEX provided to calculate the distances between different locations on the field. They then calculate the shortest distance from a particular location to the planned destination. These are particularly important calculations for moving the robot accurately during the autonomous program.