FAQ's

What are First and FRC?

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year’s game that weigh up to 125 pounds. Robots complete tasks such as shooting and scoring balls into goals, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes annually. While teams are given a kit of standard set of parts during the annual kickoff, they are also allowed and are encouraged to buy or make specialized parts. The FIRST Robotics Competition is one of three robotics competition programs organized by FIRST, the other two being FIRST LEGO League and the FIRST Tech Challenge.

FIRST Robotics Competition has a unique culture that is built around two values. “Gracious Professionalism” embraces the competition inherent in the program, but rejects trash talk and chest-thumping. It instead embraces empathy and respect for other teams. “Coopertition” emphasizes that teams can cooperate and compete at the same time. The goal of the program is to inspire students to be science and technology leaders.

What is coopertition?

“Gracious professionalism” or “coopertiton” is one way that FIRST is 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 the FIRST culture that formal awards are issued to teams that act as exemplars of gracious professionalism and coopertition.

Can I join your team?

Membership on the team is allowed to high school age students who attend one of the four Wentzville Missouri school district high schools. Click here for more information on how to join the team.

How can I support your team?

Our team is always looking for new partnerships and greatly appreciates the continuous support of our sponsors. Sponsors are an integral part of the team and help us spread our various outreach programs to surrounding areas. If you wish to sponsor the team, view our sponsor page or download our sponsorship packet. If you have experience in engineering, mechanics, programming, or media and wish to mentor high school students, please email us at info@team1706.com, go to our Contact page, or visit our Join page for more information.

Is it like Battlebots?

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.

How can I learn more about Team 1706?

Just send us a message through the Contact page, and we’ll try to get back to you ASAP. Please remember that this isn’t a full-time job for any of us, and it may take us a couple of days to get back to you, particularly if your question requires a team discussion or a particular person’s input. We value and appreciate your question/comments so don’t hesitate to email us anytime.