What is FRC?
FRC (FIRST* Robotics Competition) is a robotics competition in which thousands of teams of high schoolers around the globe are given 6 weeks to design, build, and program a robot according to a given game. On average, teams have 25-30 members, with some having as low as 5 and some having as high as 70.
Each year, the game is announced in early January, and the “build season” runs until late February, at which point regional competitions begin to take place. Teams that rank high at regionals qualify for the world championships, which take place every year in April, in Houston and Detroit.
FIRST is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing global STEM education among students. Apart from FRC, they host 2 other competitions: FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) and FLL (FIRST Lego League).
Why should you do FRC?
1. You gain valuable engineering skills.
Through FRC, you are able to gain skills and experience in mechanical design, parts manufacturing, electrical engineering, and programming. These skills are easily applicable to other STEM fields, such as computer science, aerospace engineering, etc., and will provide you a strong base of knowledge should you choose to pursue STEM in the future.
2. You gain valuable business skills.
FRC is more than just a robotics competition. Most teams also have dedicated people working on business, including marketing, branding, and applying for grants and awards. Since the cost of one season for a team is usually upwards of $10,000, there is also a lot of fundraising to be done.
Apart from business, there are opportunities for graphic design, videography, and coordinating outreach events such as workshops and demos. FRC teams are very active year-round, not just during the spring competition season!
3. You gain valuable soft skills.
Since teams are usually so large, and there are so many tasks to be done all the time, FRC members quickly learn how to work and lead effectively in a team. In addition, there are often many leadership opportunities for people to step up and take charge of certain parts of the build process.
Building robots is hard, and FRC will teach you to problem-solve, learn from your mistakes, and bounce back quickly from failures.
4. Scholarships
Every year, millions of dollars in scholarships are available to students and alumni of FIRST, many of which are funded by universities and companies. For example, in 2020, over $80 million was available from around 200 different providers.
5. It’s so much fun.
Speaking from my personal experience, FRC is super fun and rewarding in so many ways. I’ve made some of my closest friends from robotics, and I’ve gotten the chance to meet so many like-minded people from around the globe. I’ve also really been forced to grow as a leader through my participation in FIRST, and it’s made me a lot more confident in my abilities and ideas.
Great! How do I join?
FIRST has a search function on their website for you to find teams near you, and many high schools also have designated teams for their students. However, if you don’t find a suitable match, consider starting your own team! All you need is to find a mentor or two, gather some interested friends, and start fundraising and recruiting. More info here on starting your own team.
Cool! But what other robotics competitions are there for high schoolers?
Glad you asked! There are tons of robotics programs out there for high school and college students. Apart from FRC, the Vex robotics competition is probably the most popular. Other popular options include FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge), which is similar to Vex, B.E.S.T, which mainly focuses on robot design, and Botball, which mainly focuses on programming and AI.
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