I am currently an 8th-grader and will be going to my freshman year. I am considering on doing FTC and then FRC or VEX in highschool. What are the pros and cons of both? How would you go about choosing which one to pursue in high school?
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I’d probably chose VEX if I were you.
FRC robots are bigger, much more expensive, and much harder to build. It’s not for you unless you know it’s what you want to do. FRC is closer to actual real-life robotics, but only by a little bit.
VEX robots are smaller, cheaper, and easier to build. It is much easier to be a newbie and be competitive.
If you’re on an FRC team, you’re not gonna be competitive unless you have a very experienced mentor/mentor team, especially with a school team.
In VEX, you can be a rookie team without a good mentor, and as long as you do your research, and rely on the correct resources (this forum, the vtow discord, YouTube), you can do just fine.
However, you can do much more with FRC robots due to the fact that you can use any materials you want.
I participated in both this past year, so this is just my experience.
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Is there a difference between FTC and FRC?
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FTC is like Vex and has both middle and high school students while FRC only has high school students and the robots are way bigger.
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Honestly, it depends on where you think you will grow more. FRC has a much larger amount of things that you can do ranging from media and marketing your team to actually designing the robot and building it. Also through my experience this year, FRC students are much more open to talk about their robots and are really kind. Many times in Vex I have met teams who are rude to smaller teams and are much more unwilling to talk about their robot. I honestly like FRC much more compared to Vex because you get access to many more things and you make more connections with people.
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Other than the money factor, another perspective to consider is what is available to you in your region. If you are considering joining a school based team, you’ll have to look into whatever high school you are going to, to see which program they provide. Smaller schools typically have VEX, because they don’t have the funding or facilities for FRC. It seems rare for a school to support both programs, and even so, one program (FRC cough cough) will often be favored over the other. Also, when looking at different high schools as possibilities, it would be worth it to find out how well that team is doing, how good/competitive/well-funded the program is, are the coaches helpful, etc.
If you are considering a private/independent team, you’ll still have to look into what teams are already competing in your region. You can start your own team, but it will be much more expensive to start a FRC team than a VEX team. That’s more out-of-pocket costs, fundraising, or sponsors, so I wouldn’t recommend that.
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Oh yeah, FRC teams in my understanding are like 10-20 people per team. VEX teams are typically 1-8 people in my region.
This will affect how much hands-on time you get with the robot or code.
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There are a ton of articles about this, there is this kind of query two to three times a year, so search is your friend.
In my mind
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FLL - First Lego League, most roboteers have access to lego parts so the robot cost of entry can be small
Entry fees are expensive +$75 per event. Some places like Delaware have very few events. Your place may have more. Lots of programming and sensors since there is no driver mode. Too many amazing Lego parts to pick from. Team size 4-10 (There is a science project they must do, similar to the optional STEM project in VEXIQ. -
VEXIQ - buying custom parts. Some roboteers have done Hexbug kits, so there is some overlap. The control system (brain / motors / joystick) will be more than FLL assuming that FLL gets donation parts. If you are buying dollar for dollar, then VEXIQ ends up being cheaper. There are more events, and the event cost is lower $25 per event. With increase in Hexbug designs, more cool parts, but a way to go to parity with Lego. Big deal is VEXIQ can be driven from day one. Team size - 3-4
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VEX - buying custom parts with some adaptation, More robust motors and control systems and with the C++ and Python offerings they are as good as the Java on Android controls. Over all parts will be cheaper, but as we all know locked into the VEX parts system. Events are in the $50-$75 range. You need good fabrication skills, but it’s simple, cut, bend, bolt. Team size 4-6
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FTC - pretty much limited to what you can machine and fit in an 18" cube. Variety of motors, use of 80-20 that you can custom machine, other parts suppliers, etc. If you have a team that can do serious fabrication, then FTC will be fun. Bonus, is all those FLL programmers grok sensors and autonomous routines. That makes the FTC robots a little smarter. Tean size 4-12
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FRC is FTC to the max. Limit is 6500 worth of robot parts, and you are free to build anything you want. Control system, battery is controlled, but a wide variety of motors, gear boxes, air power makes your choices pretty limitless. Event fees are $6000K each, and you can expect to spend at least $20K your first season. - Team size 5-50.
If done all these programs, so I have some experience. Depends on your goals, money and the talent of your people.
No mater how you slice it, it’s all very cool robots!
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Wait do you guys think i’s worth it to do FRC and then do vex for the remaining years
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Or is it better to do vex or frc for all 4 years
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Depends on time. (FRC takes more time), cost FRC is easily 5 times the cost. Skills to fabricate, program and drive. You have little chance of building a top tier FRC robot unless you have either mentors or students that can fabricate metal or very high tolerance wood, electrical and programming and can start with strategy first and build a robot to perform.
Lots of FRC teams groom roboteers for jobs. You may not break into a top FRC team your senior year unless you have a great skill.
You need to build a matrix of your skills, your goals, cross with money and time and decide. We are not you, you need to decide within your ecosystem the direction to go. But in any case it will work out fine since they are all top program.
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I’ve been in both FTC and VRC and of the two I definitely prefer VRC mostly because vex has faster paced, more competitive games
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FRC is pretty fast paced…
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Also of note are the season lengths. Vex is pretty much 12 months. FRC, at least as I remember, was a 6 week build period starting in early January, competition weeks (maybe 6 more weeks) and wrappIng up in April.
I don’t recall the FTC season, but it is also shorter than Vex
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I don’t have any experience in FRC, which is why I didn’t mention it.
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The FTC season is almost the same as vex. They are very similar in many regards, but FTC allows for different electronic systems, has a weight limit, and allows outside materials.
While that may sound good at first what often happens if you are a underfunded team is that you get slaughtered by teams with more funding at a certain point. Vex is really good about keeping the playing field level.
Also I’ve never been a big fan of FTC game design, they always seem super slow, boring, and not very well thought out. Even the lower end vex games are pretty good and have exciting moments.
My personal recommendation is that you gain some experience in design, build, programming, and problem solving in vex for your first couple of years then move on up to FRC when you feel confident in your abilities.
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Agreed. When I watch FTC matches, it almost looks like a 4 robot skills run (little to no defense). Also. I have heard countless times of FTC having connection issues.. Also, FIRST re-uses some of the game materials from past games (mainly the gold and white debris) while VEX hardly re-uses parts (only the small ball from Clean Sweep in NBN, but then again the texture is different).
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I am a homeschool student who started a Vex team three years ago. We are entirely self-taught.
FRC and FTC are both expensive. Because of the schools with more money tend to get better parts and therefore do better.
On the other hand, Vex is a lot cheaper; our family is mostly self-funded. In Vex, the best teams are the ones who have put the most time in and are the most determined. You don’t have to have a lot of experience. Our team taught our self and are the 2nd most decorated team in Indiana this year.
One last note, I have a friend, and at his school, if you are A or B student, you go the FTC, and if you are a C or lower, you do Vex. If your school is like this, you would want to be in the FTC team.
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Another thing to consider is what your goal is with robotics. Vex is a lot more competition based whereas FRC is more focused on community impact and how to help and teach the people in your community.
This is the FRC forum: ChiefDelphi
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I try to go to FTC events here. Two things hamper them. First is that most of the events are scrimmage style. There are very few events for rankings, so most teams are trying things out. So it’s very low key.
FTC games are very task driven. While there is defense, it’s very subtle, not the VRC “let me bang your robot back into the corner and pin you there while you cry” it’s more of a strategic thing of “I took your easy game elements and scored them, now you need to try harder”
I agree on the connection issue problem, I watched a lot of teams struggle with the bluetooth connections between the “controller phone” and the “robot phone” and devices on both sides.
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