Competitive Robotics Organization at Virginia Tech

We are VT CRO—the Competitive Robotics Organization at Virginia Tech and the largest design team on campus. Our multidisciplinary club features five specialized design teams and three support teams, all focused on building cutting-edge robots for top competitions nationwide.

Mission

Improve the presence of robotics at Virginia Tech and surrounding communities.

Core Values

Reliability

We are committed to building things that are designed to work over a long period of time, from the robots we build, to the structure of the organization we represent.

Simplicity

Through simplicity and reduction of complexity, things become easier to understand, more reliable, and easier to bring to reality.

Modularity

Modularity brings the possibility of layering sophisticated systems in an elegant and simple way. It also allows for parallel development of subsystems at scale.

Our Engineering Desgin Teams

RoboGames: Developing a robotic dog from scratch.
SoutheastCon: Building a robot to compete in SoutheastCon 2025.
VEX U: Participating in VEX U competitions nationwide and abroad.
AutoNav: Creating a small self-driving vehicle.
Manufacturing Cell: Designing a 3D printing system with automated storage.

Our Support Teams

Operations: Ensures the smooth functioning of the club, supporting its mission to create winning robots.

Learning: Organizes robotics workshops open to all majors, rapidly developing students into proficient robotics engineers.
Outreach: Engages with the local community to promote robotics awareness in K-12 education.
Executive Team: Executes the strategic vision of the organization.

Our Competitions

CRO-Down: 2-day VEX Competition, hosting a total of 72 teams (40 High School, 32 College) across the United States.
Thing-a-majig: Casual engineering competition, featuring $1,400 in prizes.

Corporate Sponsors

Engineering Department Support

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech
Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech
Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Virginia Tech