4 Years in FIRST Robotics
From 2016 to 2020 I competed in FIRST Robotics — two years in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) with Team 6314, then two years in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) with Team 15430. It's the experience that made me an engineer.
What is FIRST?
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is an international youth organization founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989. Its goal is to inspire students in engineering and technology through competitive robotics.
Each match has three phases — a 30-second Autonomous period where robots run on pre-programmed instructions only, a 90-second Driver-Controlled period, and a 30-second End Game with special scoring opportunities.
FIRST Robotics Competition
FRC · Team 6314 · 2016–2018Sir Brewster
2017FIRST STEAMWORKS
Weight
119 lbs
Result
3rd · World Championships
Challenges
Rope climb · Wiffle balls · Gears
Our first full competition robot. The Steamworks game required robots to climb a rope, shoot wiffle balls into a boiler, and pick up and place gears onto airship pegs. We placed 3rd at the World Championships in our division — an extraordinary result for a relatively new team.
Sir Hendricks
2018FIRST POWER UP
Result
World Championships Qualifier
Challenges
Power cubes · Scale · Vault · Climb
Our second competition robot. We qualified for Worlds again and developed a custom ramp system for the climb challenge.
FIRST Tech Challenge
FTC · Team 15430 · 2018–2020After two years in FRC we transitioned to the FIRST Tech Challenge — a smaller scale competition with robots built from REV and TETRIX components, programmed in Java. FTC robots are lighter and more nimble, but the engineering challenges are just as demanding.
Robot names and detailed match footage coming soon — check back as I dig up the archives.
Awards
Gracious Professionalism Award
Exceptional respect, teamwork, and professionalism
Rookie All-Star Award
Outstanding first-year achievement in engineering and teamwork
World Championship Semi-Finalist
Top placement at the FIRST World Championships