(Rookie) Differences between FTC and FRC

#Rookie

FTC (First Tech Challenge) and FRC (FIRST Robotics Challenge) are two different Robotics competitions with similar rules but that differ wildly in complexity. Each year both competitions play a different game both from the prior year and from each other. You can generally think of FTC as being for middle- and high- school students while FRC is for high-school students, but the reality is more that the FTC competition is the every-student version while FRC is the really-experienced varsity team version.

FTC involves relatively safe robots that have no weight limit but must be smaller than 18"x18"x18". The robots are not supposed to intentionally interfere or damage with each other. The permitted list of actuators, sensors, and processing power is limited compared to FRC and FTC offers (but does not mandate) a simple blocks programming interface, but this does not stop the robots from being potentially quite complicated. (Rather than making the game "easy," these limitations serve more to prevent new students from being outright crushed by more advanced players!)

FRC involves large, expensive, and potentially seriously dangerous robots that have a 120 pound weight limit and are quite large in comparison. Most off the shelf components are permitted (with some limitations), and there is fierce competition between teams. The game is "full-contact" which means that the robots are free to intentionally ram into each other, though there are rules limiting this behavior to ensure fair gameplay. The level of complexity involved is quite high in comparison.

Both FTC and FRC have competitions-within-the-competition. These competitions involve awards for things like having the best control system, for helping other teams to get started, for having the best new innovation, etc. To win these awards, teams are generally required to maintain an engineering notebook that contains details relevant to the award.