Q: How old do you have to be to join the RoboRoos?

As a general rule of thumb, our FLL Teams are for primary school students (up to 13y) and our FRC and FTC Teams are for secondary students (13y-18y).

Program Recommended Age
FIRST LEGO League (Explore) 6 – 9
Year 2 – 6
FIRST LEGO League (Challenge) 10 – 16
Year 5 – 9
FIRST Tech Challenge 12 – 18
Year 7 – 11
FIRST Robotics Competition 14 – 18
Year 8 – 12

Q: I don’t want to build a robot. What else can I do?

The team organises our own events and presentations to sponsors and the public, create videos and interact on social media, design the team shirts each year and run the website. Even before the new year, we’re preparing for the next season.

Q: How much do I need to know about robots?

No prior knowledge is assumed. The goal of FIRST is to teach students about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), so you only need enthusiasm and a strong commitment to learning! Our team also needs students to create videos, organise events and to communicate with members & sponsors.

Q: How do I fit this in with school and everything else – how much time does it take?

Membership is for 12 months, with training provided throughout the year. Your involvement depends on your program and role in the team, but we’re very flexible, and we understand that all students have school and other commitments.
The busiest time is the build period for the program. During this period, meetings occur 3-5 times a week (especially for the first few weeks prior to the start of the school year for FRC).
During the off-season (after the competitions), much of the work is media and training related. Meetings will continue to occur weekly on our club night.
We know you can’t always get time off school for the competitions, so attendance is encouraged but not required.

Program Build Period Meeting Frequency (Per Week)
FIRST Lego League August – December 1 Day (Usually weekend)
FIRST Tech Challenge September – December 1 – 3 Days (Usually weekend)
FIRST Robotics Competition January – March 3 – 5 Days (Usually weekend + 1 week night after school starts)

Q: What is the time and effort commitment required of parents? Meetings, driving, travelling.

Just about everyone involved with the team is expected to help somehow but at the end of the day it is up to you. Time put in can range from checking emails once a week to once a day all the way to being one of our mentors, any help is appreciated.
As our team is a community team, we don’t have a school base and meetings are held at member’s houses, our workshop or at UniSA and Adelaide Uni.
When travelling to competition it is a requirement that each student (under 18) is accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Q: When and where do you compete? How often?

We will attend a regional competition each year (with option to compete in the US or another country for FRC). The World Championships for our area are held in Houston, US.
Events we attend occur in:

Program Location Competition
FIRST Lego League Adelaide, Sydney November – December
FIRST Tech Challenge Adelaide, Sydney November – December
FIRST Robotics Competition Sydney February – March, July
All Program Championships Houston April

Each event lasts 1-3 days depending on the program.

Q: What will the students learn?

A student on our team can learn a variety of skills depending on their program, including:

  • Computer aided design (CAD)
  • Teamwork
  • How to solder, weld, construct
  • Public speaking
  • Speech writing
  • Management skills
  • Design (in terms of building a robot)
  • Safety in a workplace
  • Media

However it is hard to list everything that can be learnt as there is so much involved with being on an FIRST team.

You can contact us at any time through roboroos@roboroos.org.au

More FAQs coming soon!