I was in almost the exact same position as you one year ago. I was a senior who just bagged up his final robot and was looking his last build season in the rear view mirror. It was a depressing feeling at the time. Since then I've done some things to fill the void that First left. I'm attending North Dakota State University majoring in Mechanical Engineering. When I got here I looked into SAE and Baja as others have recommended. The just didn't have the same effect for me as First did. There is discussion on that particular topic elsewhere so I won't go into that. I was looking for something that gave me the same "intensity and good clean fun" as you put it.
The first thought that come to my head after I decided against SAE/Baja was to join a college robotics club at NDSU. Well after a short amount of time I came to realize there wasn't one
So I started my own: Bison Robotics. The great part about starting your own club is that you can take it in whatever direction you want. Well I wanted to make the experience of being in Bison Robotics similar to that of being in First. As of right now our club has done/is going to do the following:
- Robot in 3 Days: The GreenHorns- An absolutely incredible experience. If you want to talk about all the fun/frustration/highs/lows you have during the build season, try condensing it all into 3 days... it opens your eyes. In doing this it feels as though I never actually left First.
-Quadcopter: Our club is building a quadcopter for the heck of it
it offers a unique design and control challenge and there a a ton of competito out there after we get it working.
-Mentoring Local Teams: There are debates out there about whether or not you should mentor as a college freshman. I'll let you look those up and decide for yourself if it's a good idea for you. My experience (and the experiences of those in Bison Robotics) have been nothing but positive. Personally I've mentored 3 different teams at one point or another during this build season. Getting to work with different teams and seeing how they operate is so cool. It really gives you some perspective. It also allows you to give back to the community that gives so much to students.
-We will be competing in the NASA Robotic Mining Competiton in Florida next year. We have received well over $10,000 for the endeavour and are elated at the oppurtunity. This may be the truest "progression" from FRC that our club offers.
-We also hope to build an FRC drivetrain with all the bells and whistles and document our processes for teams to use as a resource.
In other words FIRST is just the beginning! If I may ask what college/secondary education do you have planned? If they don't currently have a robotics club and you have interest in starting one I'd love to help! PM me if you want to talk about it more! If you have yet to decide on a college I'd highly recommend NDSU, they have a pretty cool robotics club. Oh yeah and also lots of classes... can't forget those.