F.I.R.S.T. Robotics

  F.I.R.S.T., For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology, was founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989 in order to develop ways to introduce kids into science and engineering. FIRST seeks to promote a philosophy of teamwork and collaboration among engineers and encourages competing teams to remain friendly, helping each other out when necessary. The terms frequently applied to this ethos are "gracious professionalism," and "Coopertition," the terms coined by Woodie Flowers which support respect towards one's competitors and integrity in one's actions.

  There are three branches to the FIRST competitions: FRC, FTC, and FLL. The FRC, FIRST Robotics Competition, is mainly for high school age students and uses the building of a robot about the size of a person to bring people together for teamwork and to introduce science and technology into their lives. The first FRC event held was in 1992 and the game was called “Maize Craze.” The 2010 season will be the 19th year that a big event is held. There are over ___ Regionals all culminating to the Championship held later in the year. There are over ___ teams from all over the world that participate in the competition, including Israel and Brazil.

  FLL, FIRST Lego League, started in 1998. Its aimed at 9-16 year olds, and is normally related to the game in the FRC category. The Lego League is a more financially able system for some school and teaches the students about the real world application of the robot world.

  FTC, FIRST Tech Challenge, beginning in 2005, is the midlevel robotics group. FIRST Tech Challenge robots are approximately one-third the scale of their FRC counterparts. This system is mainly for the intermediated level of students who plan on going into the higher up level. It is a more affordable way to achieve technology with students. The robots are now connected with Bluetooth from a laptop and can be driven by computer.