It is probably too late in the season to post this, but hey, it's before stop build date!

For those of you who don't know what FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is, I direct you to http://usfirst.org
It's an international high school robotics competition where teams from all over the world build a robot in six weeks to play a game announced on the first Saturday of January each year.

This thread is for the discussion of said competition.

So, anyone else here on a team? If so, which one? Do you have a video or pictures of this year's robot? etc.

I'm on team 1127. We have won one regional (2007) and have gone to world championships once (2008). I joined my freshman year (2012-2013).
I don't have pictures of this year's robot atm, sadly.
What about you guys?

I wish I could do the FIRST Robotics League. My school doesn't have the money to fund this program. Do you think I could find a league in my area and join it?

Well, it's not a league of individuals, if that's what your saying. Try to find a team in your area, though. Just make sure it's the appropriate type for your age group (Middle School = FLL; HS = FTC or FRC)!

Ok, great! I also know that this is a team type of club. Is there a difference between FTC and FRC?

Yes, there is. FTC is smaller robots and has multiple competitions throughout the season. FRC has bigger robots and regionals that all happen within a few weeks of each other after a global stop build date.

Thank you. Can I join a team right now or is it too late? Do I have to wait until next year?

The FTC season's over, I think, and stop build date for FRC is Tuesday. You should join after the season's over, but before next season, since a lot of teams do stuff in the off season.

Ok, great! Do you know any good books or resources to learn more about robotics? I know about how each part connects to each other, but I want to understand how to build the best robot possible

All I can say is join a team. They'll teach you everything you'll need to know!

it's kind of fun I guess but the programming is incredibly basic, you'd be better off joining the hardware/design team if you want to learn and get something meaningful from the experience

stopped doing it in 10th grade, it's good to learn to apply Java I suppose but really most of what you get out of it is from the electronics and design. Also it can be fun if you invite some friends to do it with you, otherwise you're going to be stuck with a lot of really weird, quirky nerds that are hardly bearable teammates

That thing about the programming is true. I'm on the programming team on my team, and we get all of it done by week 4. We end up working with electronics by the end.