Chapter 2: Scoring Teamwork Matches

Lesson 2: Scoring with TM Mobile

Learning Objectives

Identify how to navigate to a match in the VEX TM Mobile app.
Describe how to enter a Teamwork Match score in the app.
Identify how to save a match score in the app.

In the earlier lessons of this chapter, you learned how scoring works in IQ Level Up — what earns points and how to evaluate the field after a match. This lesson is about the tool you will use to record those decisions: the TM Mobile app, which runs alongside VEX Tournament Manager at an event.

At most events, the Event Partner will hand you a tablet with TM Mobile already installed and connected to the event's Tournament Manager computer. The matches you see in the app are the real matches for your field. This lesson covers how to use the app once you have that tablet in hand: finding your match, entering the score, and saving it.

Finding Your Match

Before you can enter a score, you need to open the correct match in the app. TM Mobile can score any match at an event, so the first step at the start of each match is making sure you are looking at the right one. Getting into the habit of confirming the match before you begin helps prevent the easy mistake of entering a score on the wrong match. The following steps walk through where to find the correct match.

The navigation menu with Match Scoring selected at the top of the list.

Open the left side navigation menu and select Match Scoring.

A close up of the upper right corner of the match screen with the list icon highlighted, to the right of the arrows.

Select the match selector in the upper right corner of the Toolbar to open the list of all matches for the event.

A prompt reads select match and shows a list of qualification matches numbered 1 - 6. The first three have green check marks beside them, and matches 4-6 do not.

Choose the match you are scoring from the list. Matches that have already been scored show a green check beside them, so you can quickly identify which matches are complete.

The top portion of the match scoring screen with the location icon and left and right arrows in the upper right corner of the Toolbar highlighted, to the left of the list icon.

Once you are in a match, you can move to the next or previous match without reopening the list using the left and right arrows in the Toolbar.

Entering Scores

With the right match open, you are ready to record what you saw on the field. The app handles the score calculations for you; your job is to enter accurate counts.

The Match scoring screen shows a score of 0 at the top. Below are four rows of counters for the floor goal, l1, l2, and l3 goals listed vertically with red on the left and blue on the right. the row below that has the L4 goal counter centered.

The scoring screen lists every goal with its own counter. Entering a score is a matter of working through those counters one at a time.

Note: The alliance receives the score shown on either side of the top of the screen. The score appears on both sides, but since there is only one alliance in a match, that alliance receives one score.

The same image as the one previous now showing a score at the top of 58, with the counters set at 2 for each of the floor goals, 3 for each of L1 goals, 2 for red l2 and 0 for blue l2, and 1 for each of the L3 goals.

Each counter records the number of scoring Bean Bags in that goal.

Use the − and + buttons on each counter to set its value:

Floor, L1, L2, and L3 each have two counters: the Red goal on the left and the Blue goal on the right. Enter the count of scoring Bean Bags in each.
L4 Goal has a single counter below.

As you set each counter, the running score at the top of the screen updates automatically, so you can check it against what you saw on the field.

A Bean Bag counts toward a goal when it meets that goal's scoring criteria and either matches the goal's color or is yellow. A Bean Bag of the opposing color does not score in that goal and is not counted. For example, a red goal holding one red Bean Bag and one yellow Bean Bag is entered as 2; if a blue Bean Bag is also resting there, it does not score and is left out of the count.

Match Stop Time

The Match Stop Time section of the screen with the counter set to 0.

Below the goal counters is a Match Stop Time counter. Teams may choose to end a match early and let the referees know they intend to finish before time expires. They signal they are finished by stopping all robot motion and placing their controllers on the ground.

When they do this, the Scorekeeper Referee signals that the match is over and records the time still showing on the timer as the Match Stop Time.

What changes from match to match is whether that time affects an outcome: it is the deciding metric in a tiebreaker Finals Match for first place, while in other matches it can be recorded but may not change the result. The main thing for Scorekeeper Referees is to know this is something teams can request, and to stay aware of the clock so you can note the time remaining if an alliance ends early. For the full details, see <GG13> and the Match Stop Time definition in the Game Manual glossary.

Example Entry

Every entry in the app maps directly to a Bean Bag you counted on the field. The example below shows a Pyramid Goal as it appears on the field, next to the matching entry in VEX TM Mobile.

This example for Blue Pyramid Goal and Blue Floor Goal shows the following scored Bean Bags:

2 Bean Bags in the Floor Goal
2 Bean Bags on L1
3 Bean Bags on L2
1 Bean Bags on L3

The Blue Pyramid goal showing the following: 2 Blue Bean Bags in the Floor Goal, 2 Blue and 1 Red Bean Bag on L1, 2 Blue and 1 Yellow Bean Bag on L2, and 1 Yellow Bean Bag on L3.

The TM Mobile match scoring screen with the 4 counters for Blue Goals highlighted and the top score reads 38. The Goal counters read, from top to bottom, Blue Floor 2, Blue L1 2, Blue L2 3, Blue L3 1.

If needed, revisit the previous lesson for clarification on how the number of scored Bean Bags was determined.

Saving the Score of a Match

A saved score is the official score of the match. The moment you select Save, VEX TM Mobile sends the score to the event's Tournament Manager computer, and changing it afterward requires unlocking the match.. For that reason, save only after the score has been reviewed and agreed on — never save a score you are still determining.

Before you save, review the completed score with the teams, and with the Head Referee as needed, so everyone agrees on what is about to be recorded. This is part of the after-match responsibilities you learned about earlier in the course: confirm the result before the field is reset, because once a team leaves the field they cannot appeal the result.

A close up of the bottom portion of the match scoring screen with the green save button with a floppy disc icon highlighted to the right of the grayed out lock icon.

When the score is agreed on, select the green Save button on the bottom of the screen.

The match will then show a Saved confirmation at the top, and will appear with a green check in the full Match list, so the whole event can see it has been scored.

The same area of the screen but with the third icon highlighted. The icon is a blue lock.

Once saved, the match is locked. A saved match displays "Match is already scored. Unlock to modify." at the bottom of the screen.

If a saved score needs to be corrected, select the Unlock button to modify the score. Once adjusted, you will need to save the score again.

The top of the T M Mobile app where scores are shown. A highlight is on the eye icon shown between the two places of the alliances score.

You can select the Eye button in the center of the score section at the top of the screen to blur the actual score while reviewing. This can be helpful in keeping teams focused on ensuring that what they see on the field matches what is recorded in the app.

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