FRC (FIRST ROBOTICS CHALLENGE)
Big Robots. Big Challenges. Big Impact!
FRC challenges high school students to take on real-world engineering by designing, programming, and building large-scale robots to compete in exciting, fast-paced games. Each January, a new game theme is revealed, and teams have just weeks to strategize, prototype, and prepare their robots for competition.
Beyond the competition field, students work closely with mentors to develop technical and leadership skills, create a strong team identity, and fundraise to support their goals. FRC emphasizes teamwork, innovation, and community impact, helping students grow as problem-solvers while fostering a lifelong passion for STEM.
In FRC, teams are presented with a newly developed robotics "game" and are given six weeks to build a robot ready to compete against other teams from around the globe. Unlike similar robot programs such as VEX and BEST, these robots are built on a large scale. The average rectangular robot is 3 to 4 feet on any given side and weighs over 100 pounds. Students and mentors are allowed to use nearly any parts and tools at their disposal to build, program, and drive these massive machines, not constrained by proprietary parts or programming languages.
After the six-week build season, competition season begins. FRC teams travel to two district competitions in March and early April to learn and compete. The game is played on a basketball-sized field with teams competing on three-team alliances. In the qualification matches, alliances are randomly assigned, but in finals, alliance captains choose their teammates, making scouting an important part of the game. Based on the points earned during the two district tournaments, teams are invited to compete at the FIRST in Texas District Championship / State UIL tournament. Based on performance at District Championship, teams may qualify for the FIRST World Championship held each April in Houston.
In our club, anyone can be a member of the FIRST program. Anyone who wishes to join gets a role. Students build, program, drive, and market our robot. Underclassmen are welcomed and we hope to further their interest and understanding of STEM. Our upperclassmen and adult mentors spend countless hours before the season begins teaching new skills to anyone who wishes to learn. When build season starts in January it's hard not to make friends. The team meets daily for a couple of hours, working together to finish the robot in just over a month and a half.
FRC 4192 CRECENDO
More information about the FIRST Robotics Challenge can be found here: