ACP Youth Robotics Program

In 2018, ACP Robotics introduced its first group of FIRST Robotics teams, followed by the launch of the FIRST Robotics Team Advisory service in 2019. The program has gained significant momentum, and ACP has brought on board the highly skilled FTC team 8565 TechnicBots and their coach, Dr. Fang Wang, ACP Vice President, to lead this initiative.


In the wake of a fruitful transitional year, the ACP flagship mentor team TechnicBots has achieved remarkable success. A majority of the 2nd generation members successfully graduated, gaining admission to their dream colleges. Following their World Champion victory and selection as Team USA in 2022 FGC, the 3rd generation team members exhibited exceptional maturation, securing notable accolades in the 2022-2023 season. Notably, the team clinched the prestigious 1st place Inspire Award consecutively at the North Texas regional and Texas State Championship levels. Progressing to the Houston World Championship in April 2023, the team attained the Connect Award in the Franklin division. Remarkably, this achievement was solely realized by the 3rd generation team members, most of whom were just in 9th grade before the summer of 2023.


The rapid development and success of the 3rd generation te
am members highlight the strong mentorship and learning culture established by TechnicBots into the ACP Robotics team ladder system. It's not just about winning competitions but also about fostering the growth and development of young minds in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Most of the 3rd generation team members had been developing themselves from ACP summer camp years since their 5th-6th grade and participated in younger ACP FLL and FTC teams. 

Learn More about ACP Robotics

Learn more about our achievements - Hall of Fame


Learn more about our
Annual Summer Camp Program

  • FTC Crash Course
  • FLL-Challenge Summer Camp
  • FLL-Explore Summer Camp
  • Invent IT! - IoT SmartHome Camp


Learn more about our
Annual Recruitment Process

FIRST Tech Challenge:

This level typically involves youth from grade 7-12. Commercial off-the-shelf mechanical parts, 3D-Printing, CNC or Laser-Cut customized parts are all allowed to forge the robot driven by 12V DC motors and industry-standard PWM servos.  Team members in ACP FTC teams are highly trained to utilize 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to sketch and verify their designed mechanical modules before hands-on exercises. 


Java is the dominant programming language at this level. ACP FTC teams are considered quite advanced in software overall in the North Texas region. Team members are utilizing advanced IDEs or browser-based programming interfaces to implement classical and modern robot control, computer vision and AI algorithms, as well as to integrate complicated software frameworks.
(
In photo: Victor X., David H. and Joseph S. tuning the turret of their team robot from past seasons.)


Two ACP teams are competing at this level in 2023-2024 Season.


FIRST LEGO League - Challenge

The robot design and programming in this level often involves youth from grade 4-8. All LEGO parts are allowed to build the team robot driven by LEGO EV3 or Spike core set motors and sensors. Advanced teams in ACP are expertised in LEGO CAD softwares to implement their design ideas into highly extensible and complicated competition robots. 



Although block (Scratch) is the mainstream programming language at this level, many ACP teams are efficient in Python to implement advanced control algorithms which often lead to more robust and consistent robots in the competition field. 
(
In photo: FLL-C level award winning competition robot designed by team 40657 in past seasons.)


Five
ACP teams are competing at this level in 2023-2024 Season. 

FIRST LEGO League - Explore

This level is for building up competences and providing an outlook of what FIRST Robotics can be to the junior kids typically in grade 2-4. Less competitive but more fun robots building and regional exhibitions are designed based on LEGO WeDo 2.0 kits and recently updated to the LEGO Spike Essential set, where basic mechanisms of structures, moving parts with motors, gear transmission and sensors can be learnt. 


(In photo: 1st grader Anni from ACP FLL-E team experimenting with gear rack transmission mechanisms from WeDo sets.)


Five ACP teams are competing at this level in 2023-2024 Season.

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