First Robotic League

FIRST® is a global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through a suite of life-changing youth robotics programs that build skills, confidence, and resilience. Our organizational statements are more than words on a page; they encapsulate our promise to build a thriving global robotics community and to remain at the very forefront of STEM education.

First is sponsored, supported and in partnership with leading companies such as QUALCOMM, Boeing, Lockheed, Firefly aeronautics, NASA, JPL, Raytheon, L

FIRST Challenge Season

Friendly competition is at the heart of Challenge, as teams of students ages 9-16* engage in research, problem-solving, coding, and engineering - building and programming a LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. They also participate in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem.

Seasons start in August and run through October. During this time teams build their boards, robots, and codes. October and November are competition session where teams attend 1-2 events where they compete against other teams regionally to world wide. Top teams are invited to compete in the championship held in January; this is a world wide event. Teams spanning the globe come together in competition, networking, and fun.

Building and Coding

Each season teams meet weekly to prepare their robots, programs and game boards. A themed game board is issued with builds to complete. Once completed teams can make plans for their robot to complete each mission. Each robot is created from scratch using basic Lego framework; they are based on a hub as a power source for motors and sensors. Attachments for the robot are built to complete several missions at a time while each new program runs. As the engineers build programmers work simultaneously to program movements of the robot and attachments. Coding is done on a Java based platform called Lego Spike progressing kids from block coding to text coding with procedural programming and more.

Competition Requirements

Teams participate in building approximately 15 mission models that will place on a challenge board. Each of the mission will have a specific action required to be completed for points. Teams are tasked with creating their own robot using Lego parts, sensors, and motors. Using Lego SPIKE, a Java based program, will create a set of complex programs for the robot to follow. As many missions are completed in 2:30min for points. Teams with the highest amount of points advance.

The Innovation Project

The theme of the season

Tournaments

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference

Progression

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference