Competitive Robotics
Participation on competitive robotics teams offers students the deepest and most comprehensive STEM education experiences of all the programs we offer.
For over 20 years XBOT Robotics has directly operated competitive robotics teams. Collectively our active coaches and mentors have over 200 years of competitive robotics experience. In addition to the teams we operate ourselves (described below), our veteran staff and volunteers also lend assistance less experienced teams within our community, helping to grow a local network of affiliated teams.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
Competition season runs January through April.
FRC enables high school students to experience the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources and an intense time limits, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand”, design/build and program industrial-size robots (up to 120 lbs.) to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. By working alongside dedicated professional engineers, teachers and other volunteers, these students are given opportunities to experience science, technology, engineering and math in a way that no classroom can provide– with the sincere hope that they will go forward to become professionals in these disciplines themselves.
Each season concludes with regional championship events and an exciting FIRST Championship.
Our students compete in FRC as Team #488 (a.k.a. “Team XBOT”).
More information on FRC can be found on the official FIRST web site at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc or the FIRST Washington site at https://firstwa.org/first-robotics-competition/.
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)
Competition season runs September through January.
FTC teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots (up to 18”x18”x18”) to compete in a head-to-head challenge. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.
The robot kit for FTC is reusable from year to year. Students learn to write Java programs that run on robots controlled by android phones. Teams design and build robots, raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach to earn specific awards.
Each season concludes with regional championship events and an exciting FIRST Championship.
Our students compete in FTC as Teams #3231 and #2939.
More information on FRC can be found on the official FIRST web site at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc or the FIRST Washington site at https://firstwa.org/first-tech-challenge/.
FIRST Lego League (FLL)
Competition season runs August to January
FLL teams (up to 10 team members, grades 3-9) are presented with an overarching theme and then challenged in two ways:
To design, build, program, and operate Lego robots (up to 12" x 12" x12") to compete in a timed robot game
Work on a project to solve a problem in the local community that is related to the overarching theme
Adult coaches and mentors guide students as they work on the project and robot using the core values: Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun.
The robot kit for FLL is a Lego EV3 Mindstorms or Lego Spike kit that can be reused year to year. Students learn mechanical design and programming with Lego programming language, Scratch, or Python. They work with members of the community to discover a problem for their project and to gather expertise to help solve the problem.
The season culminates with a local competition and potential advancement to a district championship competition and a worldwide championship competition.
Our XBOT Robotics mentors collaborate with many FLL teams. We help new teams get started in every neighborhood and community in South Seattle and the surrounding areas. In some cases, our high school robotics students also act as mentors for FLL teams. XBOT Robotics does not field our own FLL teams, rather we scale our effort by supporting a diverse set of FLL teams and their coaches across underserved communities.
More information about FLL can be found on the official site at https://www.firstlegoleague.org or the Washington state chapter of the FIRST organization at https://firstwa.org/first-lego-league-challenge.
Special Olympics Unified Robotics
Competition season runs October through December.
Special Olympics Unified Robotics™ is a student-designed and implemented robotics program open to students with and without intellectual disabilities, as well as students with a variety of learning and behavior challenges. Unified Robotics includes an equal number of participants as robotics team partners to train, strategize and compete.
Unified Robotics is the first of its kind and brings the world of STEM and the sport of robotics to more high school students interested in STEM – including many students who are often excluded from extracurricular activities. Team partners work one-on-one with athletes (i.e. students with intellectual disabilities) to build robots using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Kits. Small teams create their own robot including designing, building, and programming the robot. At the final tournament-style competition, each team presents their robot and its features, and competes in a new game created each year.
Our students participated in 3 Special Olympics Unified Robotics teams in 2018.
More information on Special Olympics Unified Robotics can be found on the Unified Robotics web site at http://unifiedrobotics.org/.