FIRST

"The varsity Sport for the Mind, FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team 'brand,' hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It is as close to 'real-world engineering' as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team."

Information from FIRST Robotics Competition

Dean Kamen, the FIRST founder, created the program "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." FIRST strives for this by "inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership."

Further FIRST ideals are gracious professionalism, and coopertition. Gracious professionalism is the doctrine that emphasizes "high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community." With Coopertition, "fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions." FIRST defines Coopertition as "displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition."

These two ideals give a brief look at the mindset of FIRST. That mindset is one of fun first. FIRST is a fun competition. You get to see your freinds, make new freinds, and even see old freinds who also participate in FIRST.

Information found at FIRST's website.

Every spring, Grady Gearbox Gangstaz Robotics (or G3) builds a robot to compete in the FIRST competition against other regional schools. We have six weeks in which we are allowed to build the robot and may use almost any materials.

We also compete in the GRITS competition, a redux of the previous FIRST competition, every fall.

These are some of the robots we have built for these competitions.