OCCRA

OCCRA stands for Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association. OCCRA is an organized competition between the robotics teams of about 30 different high schools in Oakland County, Michigan, USA, that takes place each year in Autumn and ends in early December.

OCCRA vs. FIRST

Although inspired by FIRST Robotics, OCCRA differs from FIRST in several key ways. For one thing, the student members of the robotics teams are expected to design and build the robots without direct assistance from their adult mentors, in order to give them more responsibility.

In OCCRA, teams are also forbidden from having corporate sponsorships. Each team is responsible for raising its own money to promote teamwork and to teach students to work within a budget.

Furthermore, "heavy machinery" is restricted. Lathes and other types of precision machinery are not to be used in the construction of OCCRA-bound robots. Instead, students build their robots with rulers, hacksaws, and cordless drills. This rule is intended to ensure equality among teams with varying resources (e.g. having a machine shop in the team's high school or in a team member's garage).

One key way in which OCCRA does emulate FIRST is that OCCRA maintains a policy of gracious professionalism.

See also

• FIRST

Sources

• ChiefDelphi Forums - OCCRA
• AdamBots (Team 245) - OCCRA
• PDF file released by Oakland Schools.