Just wanted to chime in and echo the recommendations for VEX. VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) is an order of magnitude less expensive than FRC and having been h

Just wanted to chime in and echo the recommendations for VEX. VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) is an order of magnitude less expensive than FRC and having been heavily involved in both I can tell you that the students get just as much, if not more, out of VRC. The smaller team size means that the kids can be much more hands-on as well versus FRC where you have huge teams of 50-100 kids but only 10-20 who are really involved in the engineering part. For less money in VRC, 50 kids could be split into 8-10 teams and every kid could be working on the robot. Also, for the younger kids, VEX IQ Challenge is a great alternative to FIRST Lego League. It's even less expensive than VEX and the kids actually get to drive the robot (unlike FLL) - which is a huge plus for many kids. Coincidentally, the VEX World Championships are coming up next week. Anyone thinking about getting into robotics competitions should check it out. They do a great live webcast of the events. Friday and Saturday (April 22-23) are the best days to watch. Webcasts and other details should be available here: http://www.robotevents.com/championship/ http://www.robotevents.com/championship/