CSUN Robotics Teams Showcases Innovation at Regional VEX Competition
The Matabots, the College of Engineering & Computer Science’s VEX Robotics Team, hosted a VEX Robotics tournament on February 1st, 2025. By bringing together ten universities from across Southern California including Cal Baptist, UC Riverside, Cerritos College, Cal Poly SLO, and UC Santa Barbara; this day-long competition challenged teams to demonstrate their technical prowess through both autonomous programming and driver-controlled events. The highlight of the competition came when CSUN Black secured the prestigious Innovation Award for their robot design.
Like other VEX U competitions, collegiate teams can utilize advanced manufacturing techniques including 3D printing and sheet metal fabrication when designing and developing their robots. Compared to other categories of VEX, this allows teams to generate more sophisticated robots. Each team fields two machines—one larger robot in a 24-inch cube format and a smaller 15-inch cube companion robot—that must work together strategically during matches. Each competition features an extended 45-second autonomous programming phase followed by 75 seconds of driver-controlled operation.
The Matabots participated in this competition with two complementary teams: CSUN Red, the experienced veteran squad with sights set on world competition qualification, and CSUN Black, the team’s newer counterparts who bring fresh perspectives to the program. This mentorship structure has created a knowledge pipeline that strengthens both teams’ capabilities while fostering leadership skills among the more experienced members.
Both CSUN teams have shown consistent improvement with each tournament this academic year. Their technical refinements and strategic adjustments have moved them closer to potentially qualifying for VEX U Nationals, demonstrating their engineering expertise and Matador Spirit.
As these budding engineers continue to refine their designs and strategies, the College anticipates their growing success in upcoming regional competitions. For more information on our VEX Robotics team, please check out their website through the link below.