FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition is BGC's flagship robotics offering. Every year the team is given a new challenge, and in just 8 weeks students design, manufacture, build, program, and iterate a 120lb metal robot.
Students learn to build robots through direct support from dedicated volunteer mentors, who share their extensive technical expertise.
The FRC program is really a team sport. Students spend multiple years on their team, learning from volunteer mentors and building friendships with their teammates.
At a Glance
3-on-3 Matches
Robots play competition matches in a 3-on-3 full-contact format
Matches have the same energy as sports with fast play and hard hits. The rotating 3-on-3 alliances also give the opportunity to play both with and against teams from across the province
Fully 3D Modelled
The FRC robots are fully 3D-modelled, right down to the screws.
These models help make sure the parts will fit right the first time, and provide the data needed for manufacturing.
Manufactured In-House
Aluminium and plastic parts are machined in-house by our students.
This provides valuable experience in running manual and computer-controlled machines
Exotic 3D Printing
3D printed parts need to be strong enough to survive heavy hits and high loads.
Engineering filaments like carbon fibre-reinforced nylon are essential to making it through a match.
Advanced Software
FRC robots have complex Java software to control their systems and automated behaviour
Students develop PID controllers, autonomous movement strategies, telemetry systems, and much much more.
Computer Vision
Computer vision is essential to navigate around the field and align with goals, especially after a hard hit.
Cameras on the robot track industry-standard AprilTag markers, which let the robot determine it's exact location on the field at all times.
Outreach
The team showcases the robot at many outreach events throughout the year
You've probably seen us at Science Rendezvous or Princess St. Promenade promoting STEM and Robotics. Outreach events are also a great opportunity for students to get volunteer hours.
Fundraising
FRC Teams are mostly self-funded, driven by sponsorship and fundraising events
Students with an interest in business skills engage with local business and large companies to form and maintain sponsor relationships. They can also plan and run fundraising events.
Season Timeline
TODO, with react-google-charts
Competitions
Competitions are the focal point of the FRC program. It's our chance to show what we've build, improve it as we go, and meet all the other teams building for the same challenge.
District Events
We'll attend two district events. District events are two-day events with 30 local(ish) teams.
District events are our window to earn points based on performance and rank within the province.
Event registration for 2027 hasn't released yet, but in 2026 our events were at Durham College in Oshawa, and Nipissing University in North Bay.
Provincial Championship
If we earn enough points at our district events, we can qualify for the provincial championship.
Up to 100 teams from across the province compete in two divisions at provincials, making it significantly larger than our district events.
Provincials is a longer 3-day event to accomodate the larger number of teams
Provincials are generally held in Missisauga, though last year were in Niagara Falls
Competitions are generally too far to commute, so require travel and hotel stays. We know this can be an additional burden on families, and want to make it clear that attending competitions is not required to be a part of the team. Most of what we do happens in the shop, and while competitions are an amazing experience you can get most of the program's value without ever travelling.
The travel window also often overlaps with march break, so only being able to make one event is normal. This may impact elidgibility for some competition roles, but there will always be something for you to do.