Mechanical design · Competition robotics

VEX climbing and odometry

In the VEX High Stakes endgame, a robot had to climb a four-foot ladder and place a ring on the top stake. Ours reached the third rung in under 12 seconds at the World Championship while scoring the ring. By our competition count, fewer than 5% of teams completed both tasks.

Our VEX robot hanging high on the ladder at the World Championship — Third-rung hang at Worlds, with the ring on the top stake.

The mechanism

I designed and integrated the climbing mechanism, drivetrain motor-sharing system, and odometry hardware. My teammates wrote the VEX software. The hang used active hooks to reach the next rung, passive hooks to hold the robot as the active hooks reset, and a routed climb line tensioned by a drivetrain-powered winch.

A pneumatic power take-off shifted motor power from the wheels to the winch. Passive isolation feet lifted the drive wheels off the floor for the initial climb so wheel-ground friction did not fight the winch. The winch ran at roughly 450 RPM with about 66 W available.

Climb: Third rung in under 12 seconds
Power sharing: Drivetrain motors → pneumatic PTO → winch
Odometry: Separate tracking wheel + rotation sensor
My scope: Hang, PTO, odometry hardware, mechanical integration

Build views

Cutout view of the VEX robot above the ladder rung — The climb mechanism with its active and passive hooks above the ladder rung.

CAD view of the pneumatic power-sharing gearbox.

CAD view of an odometry tracking pod with its independent wheel — The tracking pod measured chassis motion independently of drive-wheel slip.

Beyond one robot

I co-founded and helped lead a robotics community that grew to more than 200 students in Katy, Texas. We founded and mentored eight high-school teams. The program won the 2025 UIL Texas State Championship and qualified for VEX Worlds seven times. I now serve as a senior advisor.

See the full technical portfolio (PDF)