General Information

What is FIRST?

Contributors:

Larry Hiller, Oscar Jorgenson

Introduction

This article will help new students familiarize themselves with the FIRST Robotics program.

Introduction

Section 1 | About FIRST

Section 2 | FIRST Lego League

Section 3 | FIRST Technology Challenge

Section 4 | FIRST Global Challenge

Section 5 | FIRST Robotics Contest

Section 1 | About FIRST

General Information

FIRST is an Acronym. It stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology"
FIRST was founded in 1989 as a way to get more kids interested in STEM careers.
The main idea was to create a program that made STEM as exciting as a sporting event.
FIRST is run as a 501c non-profit public charity.
FIRST has only a handful of full-time paid employees, but there are literally thousands of volunteers that run events and teams to make the program successful.

FIRST Programs

There are currently 4 FIRST programs.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) started in 1992. There have been almost 10,000 teams over the last 32 years and about 3500 are still active. An FRC team consists of 5-100 kids that build 125 pound robots that play 3-on-3 games.
IRST Lego League (FLL) started in 1998. There have been almost 60,000 FLL teams in the last 25 years and over 23 thousand of them are still active. An FLL team consists of 3-10 kids that build a 4-pound Lego robot that plays 1-on-1 games.
FIRST Technology Challenge (FTC) started in 2005. There have been almost 30,000 FTC teams in the last 20 years and 7,000 are still active. an FTC team consists of 2-15 kids that build a 40-pound robot that plays 2-on-3 games.
FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) started in 2017. Global is the Olympics of the robotics world. Every country in the world gets to send one team of 3 adults and 7 kids to compete in a 3-on-3 game where students build FTC sized robots to play an FRC sized game.

HomeFIRST is a global robotics community preparing young people for the future and the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education.

Founders of FIRST

Dean Kamen is an inventor and a businessman. He invented the Segwey vehicle and many pieces of medical equipment. He invented the slingshot water purification system. Dean often shows up at FIRST events to interact wtih teams. He always makes a (long) speech at the World Championship. Dean founded FIRST as a way to get kids excited about STEM through a real-world sporting event.

Woodie Flowers was a physicist and professor at MIT. He helped Dean to create the FIRST organization and was very active in the FIRST community. Woodie coined the phrase “Gracious Professionalism” and often spoke on the subject. The “Woodie Flowers Award” is given to outstanding FRC coaches. Woodie died in 2019.

FIRST Philosophy

The Hardest Fun you will ever have
- Kids like sports because it is AFTER school, not part of school. They like it because it is aspirational, not required. In FIRST, you don’t get quizzes or tests. You go to competitions and earn trophies. You don’t have teachers, you have coaches. They nurture you, they do not judge you. They foster teamwork between all the participants. In sports, we praise teamwork, but in classrooms, teamwork is often viewed as cheating. FIRST is about creating a friendly space where science and engineering is promoted, but without the stress of classroom expectations. In FIRST, we want to provide opportunities for students to find the motivation to better themselves.

Gracious Professionalism
- Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. Its a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others and respects individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism, we all feel like we are contributing to the betterment of the program and we feel appreciated by everyone around us.
Coopertition
- Another big part of FIRST Robotics is Coopertition. In FIRST, fierce competiton and mutal gain are not separate notions. This means that teams are encouraged to help each other, even though they are each trying to win the same prize.

Participation in FIRST

FIRST is a worldwide program that reaches many people.

4 programs
80 countries
79,000 teams
300,000 mentors
700,000 students

Every year the World Finals happens at the end of April. FLL, FTC and FRC teams all compete the same week. At Worlds there are typically about 600 FRC teams, 200 FTC teams and 100 FLL teams.

FIRST Alumni

There are over 200 colleges that give scholarships to FIRST Alumni. There is over $80 million is this scholarship pool each year. You can apply for one of these scholarships through the FIRSTinspires website. Many FIRST Alumni end up volunteering at contests or even join new teams as mentors. In recent years, FIRST has been tryign to track Alumni to gauge the impact that the FIRST program has on students.

Several of our past students have volunteered at contests or gone on to mentor other teams.

Section 2 | FIRST Lego League

Program Overview

FLL is for students in 5th-8th grade.

FLL teams build

FLL Season Timeline

We host a Kickoff Party for the new season in early August. Our teams work on their robots and projects from September through November. We attend the Buffalo Regional Qualifier in December. If our teams do well, they qualify to attend the Finger Lakes Regional Championship in February. In the spring we continue to meet to work on skill development and in June we do a 1-week long FLL camp to train new students.

GamePlay

The FLL game is played on an 8' x 8' table. Two teams play at the same time; each on one of the 4' x 8' game maps. A game map has 12-18 Missions for teams to complete. Robots must start their routines from one of the 2 Home Base areas on the map. The robots have 2.5 minutes to do as many missions as they can. Up to two team members can be at each of the home bases at one time. There is always one mission that is meant to be a Coopertition Mission. If both teams do this mission, they both get bonus points.

FLL Robots

FLL Robots must be made entirely from Lego elements. Teams can use the new Spike Prime control systems or they can use one of the older EV3 or even NXT control systems. The EV3 has more ports than the Spike, but the sensors on the Spike are much more reliable than the EV3 sensors.

FLL Programming

Most teams program FLL robots in a block language that is very similar to Scratch. We use iPads to write our code and deploy the code to our robots over bluetooth.

Spike robots can also be programmed in Python. We are hoping to switch to Python soon.

FLL Innovation Projects

Each year, the FLL game has an overall Theme. In addition to building a robot, the teams also have to identify a problem in their community related to the Theme and then propose a solution to that problem. The team has to. research the problem and they present their solution to experts in the community to get feedback on their solution.

FLL Contests

Section 3 | FIRST Technology Challenge

Program Overview

In FTC, a team of up to 15 kids create a 40-pound robot to compete in a 2v2 game. Teams can compete in up to 5 different official tournmanents each year, encouraging teams to do purposeful iteration throughout the season. Teams are required to submit documentation that tells the story of the work that they did during the season.

FTC Season Timeline

We host an FTC Kickoff in early September. On the kickoff weekend, we also do the Robot in 30 Hours Challenge. We work on our robot from September through November. We compete at. three Qualifier contests in the winter; One in December, one in January and one in February. If we do well, we are invited to compete at the Excelsior Finals in March. We host our annual off-season event in May and we hold our annual FTC summer camp in July.

GamePlay

FTC games are played on a 12' square foam tile surrounded by 1' high polycarbonate walls. Every year there is a new game that goes inside the perimter. The robots must perform autonomously for the first 30 seconds and then the drive team can control the robots for the last 2 minutes.

FTC Robots

FTC robots must be under 40-pounds and must fit in an 18"x18"x18" box. The robots may be constructed so that they can expand outside of that box. FTC robots are often made from Aluminum, Polycarbonate and PLA. There are seveal different styles of drive train that are appropriate for FTC.

FTC Programming

FTC Robots are programmed in scratch or Java. Our team uses Java. There are severla different environments that the programming can be done in. The most common ones are OnBot Java, Android Studio and VS Code.

FTC Documentation

FTC Contests

Section 4 | FIRST Global Challenge

Program Overview

FGC Robots

FGC Programming

FGC Contests

Section 5 | FIRST Robotics Contest

Program Overview

FRC is an international high school robotics competition where teams of students, coaches, and mentors build robots to compete in annual games. These robots, weighing up to 125 pounds, perform tasks like scoring balls, hanging on bars, and balancing on field elements. The competition emphasizes “Gracious Professionalism” and “Coopertition”, promoting empathy, respect, and teamwork. Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, FRC aims to inspire students to pursue careers in science and technology by combining the excitement of sports with the rigor of engineering and robotics.

FRC Robots

FRC robots are large, custom-built machines designed by high school teams to compete in yearly challenges. They typically weigh up to 125 pounds and feature various mechanical components like motors, pneumatics, sensors, and cameras, and structural parts made out of aluminum, steel, and polycarbonate. These robots are built to complete complex tasks, such as picking up objects, shooting balls, or climbing, with both autonomous and driver-controlled modes. Each year’s game sets new tasks, requiring teams to design robots that are versatile and capable of handling a variety of challenges.

FRC Programming

Programming an FRC robot in Java allows teams to control the robot's movement, sensors, and mechanisms during competition. Using WPILib, teams code for both autonomous tasks (robot acts without input) and teleoperated mode (controlled by drivers). Java also enables integration of sensors like gyros and encoders for navigation, and controls mechanisms such as arms or shooters. Communication between the robot and Driver Station ensures real-time control during matches.

FRC Contests

Each year in FRC, like the other programs, a new game is introduced, challenging teams to come up with creative solutions and strategies. The atmosphere is similar to a sports event, with cheering crowds and intense matches, with scoring, points and penalties.

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