In the fall in Oregon, we've taken a different route by developing a simple game local teams can develop a new FRC-style robot for. This is called the BunnyBot Scrimmage. Rules for last year's game can be found at
http://www.oregonfirst.org/regional-...bot-scrimmage/
These games are kept intentionally simple and friendly. We want new members of the local teams to get practice building robots and using tools before the intense FRC build season rolls around. The rules of the season's BunnyBot game are announced towards the end of of September and the competition held around the last day of school before winter break. (We had weather problems last year so it was pushed off to the day before kickoff.)
Some teams just enter a single robot, others enter multiples. Our team (1540, the Flaming Chickens) tries to keep our BunnyBot teams small, 4-6 students, so everyone is fully engaged. We entered three robots last year.
Let me know if you'd like to know more or watch the above web address for the rules of this year's game.