FIRST is an international organization “For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” among youth, as the acronym so readily implies. FIRST accomplishes this by creating and promoting robotics tournaments for kids of all ages. From an early age, kids can work up through different levels of robotics, eventually reaching a point where the competition starts to resemble real-world situations. The organization provides an educational platform where kids can explore the creation and programming of robotics with their friends. Activities and challenges provided by the organization test kids on engineering, design, basic teamwork skills, and problem-solving. From an early age, this involvement in STEM-related challenges can lead to a life-long impact and even future careers.

FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) is one of the three robotics platforms provided by FIRST. FTC seeks to incorporate more real-world applications into programming and robot design. Both coding and hands-on fabrication are strongly encouraged as teams compete to have their robots perform a variety of tasks to score points. Robot competitions generally consist of judging, where teams are expected to demonstrate their effectiveness, and matches, where teams' robots are able to score points. After the judging and competition; awards are given to team’s based on certain aspects of how they perform. As well as the initial robot competitions, teams are expected to promote STEM in their community in whatever manner they choose. This can include community events, workshops, or educational resources. It’s up to the team to help their community while obtaining support and sponsorship from fellow robotics teams and STEM institutions.