More than 750 high school students from South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee are coming to Anderson March 9-12 to compete in the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) regional.
The inaugural Electric City Regional presented by FIRST® will be held at the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center. FIRST® is a global, nonprofit robotics community that advances STEM education and prepares young people for the future through K-12 robotics competitions.
This year’s FRC game, sponsored by Boeing, is called RAPID REACT. Attending teams have two months to design, prototype, build, test, code, and refine their 100+ lb. robots before facing each other at the Electric City Regional to vie for a spot at the FRC Championship.
Teams compete in two alliances of three robots each to intake ‘cargo’ from the Terminal and score it in either the lower or upper Hub before climbing up to 8 feet in the Hangar. Matches last for 2.5 minutes and are played on a field just a bit smaller than a basketball court.
Matches have three distinct periods of play: auto, tele-op, and end game. The 15-second autonomous period is followed by two-minutes, 15 seconds of the driver-controlled period. The last 30 seconds of the driver-controlled period is called the end game.
The top two teams on the winning alliance will advance to the FIRST® Robotics Competition Championship in Houston, Texas, April 20-23 where they will compete against teams from around the world.
The soft skills of teamwork, collaboration, and communication are the foundation of FRC. Because teams might be on the same alliance in one match, and then on opposing alliances in a later match, sportsmanship and “coopertition” are essential. This means that, while teams contend for STEM awards recognizing innovation in programming, design, entrepreneurship and manufacturing, the most coveted award in FIRST® recognizes excellence in community outreach.
Students who participate in FIRST® Robotics Competition are eligible for over $80 million in college scholarships provided by participating universities and sponsors. To learn more, visit firstinspires.org.
Photos courtesy of FIRST® Program Delivery Partner – FRC.
