A strong FRC training program, regardless of subteam, needs to hit two main points:

• Teaching core skills students need to start doing work

• Teaching the skill of gaining more skills, so students can advance on the team

There will always be another thing worth learning, it could be a new tool, a new design strategy, or a new software, there's always something. If a student doesn't have the ability to seek out information on their own and learn from it, they'll struggle significantly.

A good program therefore will balance direct hands-on guidance from mentors and/or leadership, with self-guided research-oriented projects. Doing this will not only prepare students for the upcoming season, but will also prepare them for future seasons

• Forced Exposure -> Informed Choice

  • In the early weeks, students will work in both design and fabrication. This lets them experience the full process before deciding how to split their focus in later weeks.

• Hands-On First, Theory In-Context

  • Hands-On learning is the priority, rather than teaching the theory behind things in a vacuum, have the students try things, work towards solutions rather than just providing them the answer without the backing idea. Project-based learning is important

• Progression from Guided to Independent

  • The early weeks are highly guided with specific mentor/leadership involvement. Over time, mentors step back and allow students to explore independently within a looser structure. To support this, leads and mentors hold scheduled “office hours” outside of meetings so students can get help when needed. 

• Parallel Specialization

  • After the exposure phase, in-shop time prioritizes tasks only doable in the shop, like tooling and assembly. Design work shifts toward being done outside of meetings, with short in-meeting reviews. This lets students focus deeply on one discipline or stay involved in both. 

Phase 1: Core Skill-building (~5 Weeks)

The first five weeks focus on building strong design and fabrication fundamentals.

• Weeks 1-2 Forced Exposure Stage: All students participate in some basic CAD and Fabrication work, such as the completion of most (if not all, depending on timing) of FRCDesign.org's Stage 1A, as well as learning how to make parts using the drill press, bandsaw, and belt sanders.

• Weeks 3-5 Specialization Stage: In this stage students will now have the option to choose between focusing on one specific discipline, or continuing to work with both. Some important skills here include making more advanced parts with hand tools on the fabrication track, and completing all of FRCDesign.org's Stage 1, with exploration of Stage 2 highly encouraged

Phase 2: BunnyBots (~5 Weeks)

Once strong fundamentals have been established, and specializations have been chosen, the rookies will work to design and manufacture a robot for BunnyBots.

• Week 1 Archetype and Layout: Students will decide on a mechanism to complete the game, as well as deciding on a drivebase. They will then create a master sketch of the robot and the mechanism.

• Weeks 2-3 Design, Review, Iterate: Students will work on designing the mechanism that they conceptualized and created a layout sketch for, they will then participate in design review with mentors, making changes based on feedback from the review.

• Week 4 Assemble: After 1-2 iterations of the mechanism and drivebase, it will be assembled and wired.

• Week 5 Drivers and Code: At this point ideally the mechanical team gets to step back and let the software team finalize robot code, and let the drive team get some last minute practice in.