Who are the “Mavericks”?

The Mavericks is a high school robotics team. Specifically for EHOVE Career Center but you do not need to attend EHOVE to join the team.

What do we do?

We primarily build a robot based on the FRC game. We function like other sports teams, but our sport is a “sport of the mind.” Outside of building a robot, we do community service and help grow STEM learning.

What is FRC?

FRC stands for FIRST Robotics Competition. At the start of the new year, a new game/season is revealed. At this time the clock starts ticking down to finish a robot to compete within a couple months of learning the game.

What is FIRST?

FIRST is an educational organization consisting of three major robotics programs.

How do I join?

You can join the team if you are 14 years old and up. We start meeting once a week in October. After the game is announced in January, we switch to nearly daily. (Attendance is not required but participation may affect the ability to travel.)

Why should I join?

Joining us gives you multiple skills that many alumni can still attest to learning from their time as a student. You also get access to the millions in FIRST scholarship money.

Do I need to pay to join?

No! We are funded fully by our generous sponsors! The only exception is food at competitions.

How do we build a robot in a couple months?

Our strategy shifts depending on the year, but we typically jump straight to brainstorming. We are fortunate to have access to many tools thanks to our location at EHOVE. So we can jump to prototyping as fast as we have an idea. Over the course of the design phase, we design most of the robot in a 3D software before making most of the parts in house. We then can wire the bot and program it to do what we want to accomplish.

Not interested in just a robot or aren’t sure what to do?

FIRST has a saying of being “more than just robots.” There is more to do than building and designing, such as fundraising, business, outreach, art, and much more.

What do we do with the robot?

After the robot is built, we go to competitions and compete against 30-60 other teams. The format is typically the same, there are qualification matches of 3 vs 3 randomly selected teams. With the top 8 choosing two other teammates for a “round robin” elimination bracket.

How do competitions work?

There are many competitions hosted around the world. Our team typically attends two competitions, hopefully the world championship and several off season events.

How does travel work?

We typically leave some time on Wednesday as a day of travel and a load in. Thursday is a practice day. Friday and Saturday morning are qualifications. Before lunch on Saturday, there are alliance selections. After lunch on Saturday, there are eliminations. Towards the end of the eliminations, awards start to be announced between matches. At the end of the eliminations, the final awards are given. We typically arrive back at EHOVE Saturday night.

What software/hardware do we use?

High School