VEX vs Arduino – Or Is It That Simple?

MJ j -

Hello all, and welcome to my sixth blog post!

This week, I have been exploring kit options for the curriculum, primarily comparing VEX and Arduino due to their strong advantages for BASIS Mesa. While there are other options, these stand out the most. Here’s a pros and cons chart for reference:

I also added the course topics I shared with you in the last post to my excel sheet tracking different topics-screenshot included below:
Next, I’ll continue narrowing down the best kit or combination of kits.
Powering down… but I’ll be back after a firmware update!

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Comments:

All viewpoints are welcome but profane, threatening, disrespectful, or harassing comments will not be tolerated and are subject to moderation up to, and including, full deletion.

    nico_l
    That's pretty cool MJ, I like how it's coming together over time as you decide key points. I think for the clientele that is BASIS kids you should go with Arduinos but that's just what I think. What do you plan on using and why?
    March 26, 2025 at 11:49 am - Reply
    joaquin_s
    Hi MJ, I agree with Nico on that using Arduinos would be the better course of action, but I was wondering if the kits, whichever one you go with, would be provided for by the school or if the students would need to purchase them? Also for a bit of feedback, you can change the size of the images by clicking on them in the blog creator, which will make them a lot easier to see in the future.
    March 26, 2025 at 4:23 pm - Reply
    sidd_s
    Hi MJ! I’ve really enjoyed your robot-themed conclusions. Could you specify what the kits include?
    March 26, 2025 at 4:55 pm - Reply
    mj_j
    Hello Nico. Although I am currently still in the deciding phase, I will most likely use a VEX kit from there V5 or EXP series, since those are targeted towards the specific grades the elective will be available to. However, when discussing electricity and circuits, Arduino boards could be integrated into the curriculum.
    March 31, 2025 at 8:51 am - Reply
    mj_j
    Hello Joaquin! Thank you for the feedback. As for your question, although the students will not be buying the kits directly/themselves, the cost of the elective will cover the costs the school needs to purchase said kits, which will be used in the classroom.
    March 31, 2025 at 8:53 am - Reply
    mj_j
    Hey Sidd! Although I don't know exactly what kit(s) we will be using in the curriculum (it hasn't been finalized yet), we will most likely opt for using what VEX calls an educational kit, such as this one (this is only an example): https://www.vexrobotics.com/go-kits.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqSO1rolJ1D9rcN2qH0hFpzYherQZ1YtyhuXRNWZ3HsDe6A7iPs
    March 31, 2025 at 8:56 am - Reply
    vinesh_k
    Hi MJ! I know VEX hosts competitions, have you considered that as a potential way to get students engaged?
    April 7, 2025 at 8:46 pm - Reply

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