FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

We receive questions about our robotics program, please search below for common questions that are asked and answered. If you can’t find an answer you’re looking for, feel free to reach out through our contact page.

Getting Started

FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” is a global nonprofit organization focused on inspiring young people to become leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, the organization creates hands-on robotics programs and competitions for students ranging from elementary school through high school. FIRST combines education with the excitement of sports-style competitions, encouraging students to design, build, and program robots while working together in teams.

The organization’s mission is to provide life-changing robotics programs that help students develop technical knowledge, confidence, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. FIRST believes that STEM education should be engaging and accessible to everyone, which is why its programs emphasize inclusion, creativity, and collaboration. Students not only learn engineering and programming concepts, but also gain leadership, communication, and project management experience through real-world challenges.

FIRST is known for its strong core values, including innovation, discovery, teamwork, inclusion, impact, and fun. Two important philosophies promoted by the organization are “Gracious Professionalism” and “Coopertition,” which encourage participants to compete while still treating others with respect and helping fellow teams succeed. These values help create a positive learning environment where students are encouraged to support one another, even during intense competitions.

Today, FIRST operates in more than 100 countries and has reached millions of students worldwide through programs such as the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge. The organization partners with schools, volunteers, educators, and major companies to provide mentorship opportunities, scholarships, and career pathways in STEM fields. Research highlighted by FIRST shows that many alumni pursue STEM majors and careers after participating in the program, demonstrating the organization’s long-term impact on education and workforce development.

“Gracious professionalism” or “coopertition” is one way that FIRST® tries to be different from many other sports. Gracious professionalism is the idea of behaving maturely and responsibly and being respectful of other teams, FIRST® officials, and generally everyone involved in the competition. Gracious professionalism also means helping out other teams, whether by lending parts or manpower, so that everyone can compete and have a good time. Coopertition is the idea of competing cooperatively with other teams. Teams are grouped into alliances, usually of three teams, which compete against other alliances. This way, robots are able to work alongside other robots. These concepts are so deeply woven into FIRST® culture that formal awards are issued to teams which act as exemplars for gracious professionalism and coopertition.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

No. FIRST® games involve no attacking of other teams robots. It’s more akin to robotic soccer—the typical game has two teams of three robots each (called alliances) which have to compete on an indoor game field. In fact, there are penalties for purposefully damaging, attacking or destroying an opposing alliance member’s robot. Plus, alliances change during the competition, so you wouldn’t want to damage the robot of another team you’ll end up having to work with later. The goal of FIRST® competitions is to encourage creative problem-solving and teamwork, rather than to design the deadliest robot.

Our program consists of students from Collegiate High School and Harold T. Branch Academy ranging from rising freshmen through their senior year. Students from both of these schools are highly welcomed and encouraged to join our program! Students outside of these schools are not able to officially become a member of our program but are still welcome to interact and learn with us!

Students are not expected to know any technical skills when joining the program. A part of our program’s mission is to teach students new skills ranging from engineering, programming, business and marketing, and more all from the ground up!

That said, there are skills that can help you hit the ground running:

Some good places to start are:

  • Design
    • Creating an onshape account
    • Go through the training outline here – find the entry spot appropriate for you
    • CAD is one of the most useful technical skills to start learning because it helps students understand how robot parts are designed, how mechanisms fit together, and how to communicate design ideas clearly, especially with things like KrayonCAD
  • Programming
  • Fabrication:
  • Marketing and Business:
    • If you have a working knowledge on how to use software such as google docs, google spreadsheets, google drive, Canva, and more, this will be immensely useful.
    • Knowing the basics of photography and how to capture usable photos and videos for our documentation.
  • General
    • There are lots of general training things created by another team, Spectrum. While they don’t all apply to Droid Rage, things will be largely similar: http://training.spectrum3847.org/
Keep in mind, our program does not expect any student to be an expert on all fields. We highly encourage students to actually dedicate themselves in a particular subfield while learning the basics of other fields as this will help you become a valuable part of our team while also helping you understand deeply in a field you are most interested in.

New members usually start with smaller or more guided tasks while they learn how the team works. These tasks may not always feel exciting at first, but they help students build skills, context, and trust.


Examples of good starter tasks might include:

  • Learning CAD through practice projects
  • Helping assemble or improve team equipment
  • Helping organize tools, parts, and work areas
  • Working with experienced students on small robot tasks
  • Helping prepare for camps, outreach events, or training activities
  • Learning basic shop safety and team procedures
  • Helping document work so others can understand or continue it later

As students show effort, reliability, initiative and the understandings of the basics within a particular subgroup, they get trusted with more complex work over time, including being promoted to higher student leadership positions in the program.

The students who tend to grow the most on Droid Rage usually do a few things consistently:

  • They show up ready to work.
  • They ask questions when they are stuck.
  • They communicate with teammates and mentors.
  • They follow through on tasks they agree to do.
  • They contribute to both robot and non-robot team needs.
  • They use time outside of meetings to learn, practice, or finish work when needed.
  • They look for ways to help instead of waiting to be assigned every task.

Droid Rage is not a normal class where simply showing up guarantees that you will learn or contribute. The more effort, initiative, and discipline a student puts in, the more they will usually get out of the team. Our program will not force students to get involved, students must be self-motivated in order to see the greatest success.

It depends, and no one knows you better than you do. FTC tends to be less intense and requires a lower time commitment, while FRC is generally more demanding, with students often spending more hours each week at the shop.

Some students with a particularly high level of interest and drive choose to participate in both programs. In fact, our coaches highly recommend participating in both, as FTC provides students with direct, hands-on experience designing, building, programming, and competing with a robot throughout an entire season. We find that students learn far more through this real-world engineering experience than through skills workshops alone, and the technical, teamwork, and problem-solving skills they develop transfer directly to FRC.

That said, participating in both programs is a significant commitment. Because the FTC and FRC competition seasons overlap, January and February can be especially busy for students involved in both. Students should carefully consider their interests, maturity, academic workload, and availability when deciding which option is the best fit.

Learning and Mentorship

New students will be supported, but robotics is different from a normal class. Mentors and experienced students will help, but students also need to take initiative.
If you do not know what to do, good next steps are:

  • Ask a veteran student what they are working on and if you can help.
    • Ask someone to explain what they are doing, then watch and help where you can.
    • Sometimes this may mean just watching them and asking them questions about what they are doing and why! This is often called “shadowing”
  • Join a subteam or project group instead of working alone.
  • Look for cleanup, organization, documentation, or prep work that needs to be done.
  • Avoid all temptation to pull out your phone just because you feel bored

It is common to feel lost at first due to the overwhelming number of areas that you could possibly contribute and the large knowledge gap between even someone that’s just been on the team for one year vs someone new to the team. The important thing is to stay engaged and keep asking how to help.

Droid Rage is more like a real project team than a normal class.

That means:

  • Team work is not “homework” in the normal school sense.
  • Robot design, business plans, award submissions, outreach, and documentation are real work that affect the team.
  • Showing up does not automatically lead to high performance.
  • Students who can work independently while also seeking mentorship will usually learn the most.
  • There is almost always useful work to do, even if it is not the most exciting task.
  • More effort and initiative usually leads to more learning and more responsibility.

Mentors and student leaders will help guide the team, but students are expected to be active participants in their own learning.

Experienced students are encouraged to include newer students in the work they are doing. Similarly, new students are encouraged to find a veteran that they can shadow that does work similar to what they are interested in.

That might look like:

  • Explaining what a subteam is working on
  • Inviting a rookie to help with a task
  • Showing a newer student how to use a tool or software
  • Reviewing a CAD model, wiring task, document, or project plan
  • Helping a newer student understand team expectations
  • Encouraging rookies to join a project instead of waiting on the side

Rookies are also encouraged to find a veteran, subteam, or project group to join. A lot of learning happens by working near people who are already doing the work. Rookies also learn alot from researching and speaking with other teams outside of our program.

One website our team interacts with is Chief Delphi, which is a forum website. The forum covers a wide array of subjects, including technical advice on robot building, programming tips, team management strategies, and event logistics. Our mentors and veteran students have alot of knowledge, but you will learn the most from interacting with large and very successful teams from across the world.

Start by asking. Good things to say are:

  • “What are you working on, and can I shadow you or help?”
  • “Can I watch what you are doing and ask questions?”
  • “Is there something that needs to be organized, cleaned, documented, or prepared?”
  • “Who should I talk to if I want to learn more about what you’re working on?”
    • Or “is there information about this online/in discord/somewhere that I can learn about this a little on my own?”

Try to avoid pulling out your phone to play games or say things like “There’s nothing to do”. 

Asking “What is there for me to do?” during a meeting may sound like a helpful question, but there’s often so much going on that it can be very difficult for a mentor to give you a new task on the spot. 

Keep in mind that a group that’s interrupted several times throughout a meeting to ask to be explained what they’re doing will likely become frustrated that they can’t make progress because they are constantly being interrupted to explain the same thing. It is best to do this at the beginning of the meeting and stick with one group until there’s a natural break in work.

Subteams and Focus Areas

Yes. Students will have opportunities to learn about different parts of the team, especially during the Summer and Fall.

We typically use training, projects, and team activities to help students explore areas such as:

  • Mechanical
  • CAD/design
  • Manufacturing/fabrication
  • Electrical
  • Programming
  • Strategy/scouting
  • Outreach
  • Awards/documentation
  • Business/operations
  • Media

Students are generally not assigned to subteams the way a teacher might assign groups for a class project.

Instead, students are encouraged to:

  • Explore different areas during the Summer and Fall
  • Pay attention to what they enjoy and where they are useful
  • Ask veterans and mentors how to get involved
  • Pick 1 or 2 areas to focus on more seriously by kickoff in January

The team benefits when students explore broadly at first, but students will generally benefit from quickly focusing in one or two areas enough to become dependable contributors in specific areas. After that, you can go back and start growing skills in another area you may be interested in

Summer and Fall are good times to explore. By kickoff in January, students should ideally have a better idea of where they want to focus. That does not mean students can never help outside their main area. It just means that during build season, the team needs people who can reliably contribute to specific work.

A good goal is:

  • Summer/fall: explore, learn, try things, and ask questions
  • By kickoff: choose 1 or 2 areas to focus on
  • Build season: contribute consistently in those areas while still helping the whole team when needed
  • The following summer/fall: start to grow skills in additional areas you are interested in

Outreach, Documentation, and Team Contributions

Yes. Droid Rage is more than just the robots! Students can contribute through:

  • Outreach events
  • Community projects
  • Award submissions
  • Engineering documentation
  • Business and sponsor work
  • Media and photography
  • Scouting and strategy
  • Camps and training events
  • Team organization and operations
  • Grant writing
  • Projects that improve the team

These contributions are important. The robot matters, but the team also needs students helping with the work that supports the robot, the community, and the long-term health of the program. These contributions have the greatest impact on our program even more so than just building the robot, and are great ways to leave your legacy on the team in the long run. Our most memorable and legendary members are those who can contribute more than just working on our yearly robots.

Yes. Students are encouraged and expected to contribute to the team beyond only robot work.

Examples of things that may count as contributions include:

  • Helping with outreach events
  • Submitting grants
  • Supporting camps or training events
  • Creating useful documentation
  • Creating training documentation
  • Working on a project that improves the team

Non-robot work is part of what makes Droid Rage sustainable. Outreach, documentation, training, business work, awards, and operations help the team:

  • Teach more students
  • Raise money
  • Recruit mentors and sponsors
  • Share STEM with the community
  • Preserve knowledge from year to year
  • Run events and camps
  • Compete for awards
  • Build a stronger program overall

A strong robotics program is not just a group of people who build a robot. It is a group of people who build a robot, support each other, teach others, communicate well, and help the team improve over time.

Additionally, Robotics is a very resource intensive program; time, money, materials, etc. What makes it worth it is to expand our impact beyond the 50-60 students on the team through our non-robot work.

Without these contributions, our program could never exist in the long-term, even if our team consistently built strong robots that win every event.

Schedule and Attendance

Insert Info here

There is not usually a strict attendance requirement during the summer and fall, but students are still expected to complete requirements and communicate if they are involved in a project. Most importantly, students are expected to participate enough to grow their skills to prepare them for the spring. We will define our schedules as we get into certain parts of the year and let our students know in advance while also giving our students the opportunity to communicate to use their availability.

During the build season, attendance matters more because the work is time-sensitive and connected to other people’s work.

In general, students should:

  • Attend meetings consistently if they want to be meaningfully involved
  • Follow through on tasks they commit to
  • When taking on responsibilities, communicate any conflicts that may make it difficult to complete
  • Understand that more involvement usually leads to more learning and more responsibility

Students balance robotics in different ways. Realistically by the time a student is an upperclassmen, a student may need to determine which extra-curriculars they want to focus on.

Some students:

  • Finish homework before meetings
  • Use time between school and robotics to study
  • Choose specific days to attend robotics based on their schedule
  • Communicate early when school, family, or other activities conflict
  • Limit how many responsibilities they take on at once

Robotics can take a lot of time, especially during build season. Students should be realistic about their schedules and communicate with mentors and teammates when conflicts come up.

Schedule and Attendance

​A typical meeting often looks something like this:

  • Announcements and sometimes training at the beginning
  • Students break into subteams, project groups, or task areas
  • Most of the meeting is spent working on tasks or projects
  • Mentors and experienced students help guide work, answer questions, and review progress
  • The end of the meeting is used for cleanup, recaps, and shoutouts

Droid Rage meetings are not usually run like a class where everyone sits and receives the same lesson the whole time. Students are expected to find productive work, ask questions, and stay engaged.

Meetings can either occur in person at Collegiate High School in our robotics lab, or through Discord, a free communication online platform.

Most large scale meetings will occur through Discord. The reason for this is because a majority of our mentors live across Texas, the US, and the world. Discord allows mentors to easily communicate with our students to help communicate knowledge and upcoming required steps. However we also host meetings in person as well that are usually between student members and student leaders and other local people, such as with parents.

Students should generally bring:

  • A charged laptop if they have one
  • Something to take notes with (can be a phone)
  • Proper attire: 
    • Safety glasses
    • Pants
      • Shorts are sometimes accepted throughout summer months depending on the AC situation
    • Closed-toe shoes
    • non-baggy clothing
    • no dangling jewelry
  • A good attitude and willingness to help

If you miss a meeting, it is your responsibility to catch up.  We also ask you to notify our student leaders or mentors if you plan to miss a meeting in advance so we can help prepare for your missing attendance.

Good next steps are:

  • Check team communication channels
  • Ask your subteam or project group what changed
  • Ask other students if there are tasks you need to complete before the next meeting
  • Check the calendar for upcoming meetings or deadlines
  • Avoid expecting someone else to fully re-teach the meeting individually if you did not communicate

Everyone misses meetings sometimes. The important thing is to communicate and take responsibility for catching up.

Short answer:
Yes, students can do other activities. However, students who want to be eligible for competitions should expect to commit about a majority of their freetime of the week during build/competition season from January through May and at least 3+ hrs a week during summer and fall. Students who want to be highly involved or pursue leadership roles should expect closer to 15–20+ hours per week during build season and likely 5-10+ hrs a week during the Summer and Fall.

Longer answer:
Droid Rage is a year-round program, but the time commitment changes a lot depending on the part of the year. During the Summer and Fall, we typically meet 1–3 times per week for training, outreach, off-season projects, and preparation. In January, the new FRC game is announced, and from January through May the team is designing, building, testing, practicing, improving, and competing with the robot.

During build and competition season, our regular meeting schedule usually includes multiple weekdays and Saturdays.

Students do not need to make robotics their only activity. We have had students successfully balance Droid Rage with debate, math society, jobs, and other commitments. We encourage students, especially new students, to try robotics before deciding how it fits with everything else they are involved in.

That said, students and families should understand that Droid Rage has more interested students than we can reasonably support at the same level. We typically have 100+ students express interest, but we do not have enough space, mentor bandwidth, tools, robot roles, and competition travel spots for everyone to participate casually at the same level. Because of that, we use an application process, and acceptance prioritizes students who show consistent effort, engagement, follow-through, and a willingness to make Droid Rage a meaningful priority.

This does not mean students cannot do other activities. It does mean students should be realistic about their goals. A student who is only available occasionally can still learn, contribute, and benefit from the team, but they are less likely to become a major technical lead, student leader, drive team member, or key competition contributor without making Droid Rage one of their higher priorities. The same is true in other activities: a student is less likely to become a starter in a sport, section leader in band, or officer in another organization without prioritizing that activity.

After freshman year, some students may need to make choices about how they want to prioritize their extracurriculars. Some students choose to make Droid Rage one of their main commitments. Some choose to participate in Droid Rage at a more limited level while focusing more heavily on another activity. Both can be reasonable choices, but the expectations and opportunities may be different.

Our main expectation is that students are honest about their availability, communicate when they have conflicts, stay engaged when they are present, and follow through on the responsibilities they accept. Robotics can be a great experience even for students who share time with other activities, but the more effort and initiative students put in, the more they will usually get out of the program.