FRC: it's not about the robot; it's about gracious professionalism, an idea meant to promote constant cooperation among all teams and their respective team members. This program accomplishes its goals by facilitating real-world experience. An advanced robot is built in six weeks according to numerous criteria. During competitions at the regional (various locations throughout the United States) and the national (Atlanta, Georgia) level, the goal of participants is to practice what they have learned about professionalism and apply also what they have done on the robot. At Rocky Mountain Robotics, we try to stress that FRC is absolutely not just about the robot. Find out more at the FIRST website.

The competition season actually begins in January, when the year's game objectives and rules are announced. Teams are provided with a "kit" of assorted parts and only six weeks to design and build their robot. Using the provided parts or other components that they have purchased or fabricated, and their imaginations the students create a machine that is unique to both the game and the team.

Typically, robots must be no larger than 28" x 38" x 60", can weigh no more than 120 pounds and must be powered only by motors or pneumatics included in the kit of parts or available as approved components. Beyond these limitations, however, the members' imaginations are the only boundaries.

The general competition format (which may change, at the discretion of the game designers) typically has two or three randomly selected teams allied against the same number of opposing teams, also randomly paired, playing the game on a 26' x 54' custom-designed field.

Robots must operate both autonomously (changed to "hybrid" mode in 2008: half autonomous and half tele-operated) and under the remote control of the team drivers and operators to accomplish the game objectives within a tight two-minute time frame. In most games, a human player from each team (remaining outside the field of play) can assist the robot in scoring points for their alliance.

Since teams are randomly paired, it is not unusual for a team to play with a specific team in one match as an ally and against them in another match as an opponent. For this reason, an unusual cooperative spirit is developed among the teams, with teams offering to assist other teams by providing parts and technical assistance before the competitions and even before rounds. Dean calls this phenomenon "coopetition," and it is a critical part of the spirit of gracious professionalism that FIRST cultivates.

In addition to the robotics competition, Rocky Mountain Robotics participates in several other competitions including a computer-generated animation, 3-D computer modeling, and website development. While the website is an ongoing process, the other two are tied directly to the year's competition and teams are given roughly the same amount of time to create the animation and 3-D models.

A number of awards are presented to teams that have distinguished themselves either by their technical performance, by demonstrating innovation or by overcoming obstacles. The awards range from team spirit to mechanical design, but the most prestigious among them is the FIRST Chairman's Award, presented every year to the teams that best exemplify FIRST values, spread the word of FIRST, and who best demonstrate an appreciation of science and technology.

FIRST Overdrive is a game played on a track with two alliances, one red and the other blue, competing in matches (which are 2 minutes 15 seconds long). The objective is to obtain a score that is higher than opponents by making counterclockwise laps around the track while moving balls over and under the overpass bisecting the track.