Time on the brain... instead of the feet.
The core concept behind Trossen Robotics (TR) competitions is that students shouldn’t be spending very much time building the mechanics of their robots. The focus of our competitions is to challenge students to use logic and creativity for designing, developing, and debugging their robot logic in everyday computer programming languages.

It is our goal that students be able to assemble kits and master the basics of motion control and sensory input within the first few days. The rest of their time up until the competitions is spent solving the problems and challenges presented to them in the realm of code design and architecture. We believe the true excitement and passion of robotic development lies in the creation of intelligent behavior. The time has come for students and robotic developers alike to move past the days of the basic “stamp” and begin progress on the next great challenge of robotics: behavior development.

Learning doesn't end when the competition is over!
Another wonderful benefit of TR competitions is the sharing and learning in which students can participate after the competition ends. After the competitions are over, the code from all the teams will become available to all of the participants. This way students can learn from not just their own teammates and efforts, but from all the teams and students that participated.

Just some of the benefits are:

*	seeing which solutions worked and which didn't
*	compare and contrast the many different types of solutions
*	see solutions coded in other programming languages
*	chance to combine the best parts from many projects into new and better versions
*	foster a community of people sharing ideas, code, solutions, projects, etc.

Real world challenges, real world company interest
TR competitions will involve the support and sponsorship of top companies seeking to actively work with and recruit students participating in our events. The advanced robotics and automation challenges in which students participate both develop and display highly marketable skills which are attractive to today's leading companies. Since TR competitions are geared for college-level students who are entering the work force, companies show greater interest based on the fact that high school level competitions don't offer the opportunity for recruiting fresh talent.

College teachers and administrators love to hear this since it's always a major goal of universities to offer programs that afford their students the opportunity to market their skills to actively hiring companies. TR competitions allow universities to work closely with hiring companies to help their students gain real-world experience and exposure to their career path of choice.

Crossing over into the classroom
One of the long-standing desires for schools who wish to participate in robotics competitions is the ability to integrate the skills being learned in robotic clubs and competitions into actual course curriculum. TR competitions offer many ways for schools to do just that! The challenges presented to participating students involve the same skills being taught in the classrooms. Computer programming, networking, electronics, product design, human-computer interaction, architecture, databases, teamwork, and far more. The solutions and products we offer can be used in classrooms in countless ways, and we continue to develop course curriculum examples, projects, and solutions for schools to use when designing their courses. We seek to help schools themselves learn how to incorporate the latest cutting-edge technologies into their classrooms, to develop exciting courses and content for their students.

Let's start having some serious fun!
Wouldn't you be excited to participate in robotics competitions that truly challenge the minds of students and teachers in the advanced realm of robotics behavior, logic, and task accomplishment? Robotics competitions have been stagnant for too long!

For many years competitions have concentrated disproportionately on the building of robot mechanics, and not enough about coding the behavior of robots. We are thrilled to be developing a system of robotics solutions that will allow students to compete in advanced robotics challenges which can push robotics into a new era of technology and capability.

What kind of challenges will TR have?
We are currently designing many different competition challenges. Here are just a few short examples of some competition challenges we are currently developing. Please note that these are just early examples, provided to give people a taste of what can be done with the Trossen Robotics system and what kind of exciting competitions to expect in the coming years.