About FIRST
Overview
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international, non-profit organization based in Manchester, NH. Its goal is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in innovative mentor-based programs. Along with science and technology skills and interests, FIRST programs also build self-confidence, leadership, and life skills by promoting Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter, in partnership with MIT physics professor emeritus, Woodie Flowers. FIRST offers robotics programs for students of all ages, starting in elementary schools at age six and continuing through high-school levels up to age eighteen.
​ Benzene Bots participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition program. The FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology, and is known as "the varsity sport for the mind". At the end of each season, qualifying teams compete at the FIRST Championships. In 2018, one championship event will be held in Houston, Texas from April 18th to 23rd. The second championship event will be held in Detroit, Michigan from April 25th to 28th.
Programs
FIRST is broken into 4 divisions; FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), FIRST Lego League (FLL) and Junior FIRST Lego League (FLL Jr.). Each of these programs address a different community of students interested in STEM.
FRC: FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students and mentors work during a six-week period to build game-playing robots that weight up to 120 lbs. Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, flying disks into targets, placing tubes on racks hanging on bars and balancing robots on balance beams. The game changes yearly, keeping the excitement fresh and giving each team a level playing field. While teams are given a standard set of parts, they are also allowed a budget and encouraged to buy or make specialized parts. This competition brings teams from all over the world together at competitions and represents the most competitive levels of FIRST. As of 2018, there are 3,647 teams consisting of more than 91,000 students and 25,000 adults and mentors. Teams come from 27 countries, 3,000 of which are from the United States. This year there were 63 Regional Events, 10 District Championships, and 85 District Events in addition to the 2 Championship Events in Houston, TX and Detroit, MI.
FTC: FIRST Tech Challenge teams (10+ members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. Participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have!” Guided by adult Coaches and Mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles (like keeping an engineering notebook), while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and sharing ideas. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and can be programmed using a variety of languages, including Java. Teams also must raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach for which they can win awards. Participants have access to tens of millions of dollars in college scholarships. Each season concludes with Super-Regional Championships and an exciting FIRST Championship.
FLL: FLL stands for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League.
The program gives children grades 4-10 the opportunity to experience the fundamentals of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) through 3 elements: Project, Robot and Core Values (Teamwork). Every year, there are themes released to the public in summer, and teams are encouraged to create a solution for a problem under the theme. Robots built from Lego are to complete missions based from the theme of the year. In fall every year, regional competitions are held all across the world, where over 30,000 teams compete for a spot in their respective provincial competitions. The highest placing teams in these provincial competitions get a chance to participate in a world-tier event. In addition, at the provincial (and regional) competitions, teams can be selected as nominees for the global innovation awards.
FLL Jr: FIRST LEGO League Jr. follows the same theme given to FIRST LEGO League. While FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams conduct research projects and design autonomous robots specifically to carry out missions relating to the topic, FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams conduct much smaller projects and makes models out of LEGO elements to illustrate one part of the theme. They may also use LEGO WeDo, a programmable robotics kit, as part of their models.
