Beyond Robotics

The fundamentals of FIRST expand far beyond the actual robot competitions. FIRST is a global community of elementary and high school students who have a passion for STEM. Everyone in FIRST is here to not only design and build a robot but also to simply have a good time with our team and others.

The Purpose of FIRST

 "[The purpose is] to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." 
- Dean Kamen
   Founder, FIRST
   President, DEKA Research & Development Corporation

FIRST Tech Challenge

The FIRST Tech Challenge involves two parts - the Autonomous game and the TeleOp game. The Autonomous game is a thirty second, hands-off round where you run code which automatically completes various tasks. The TeleOp game is the two-minute, manually controlled game where you move freely around the board and complete a variety of tasks. Tasks are dependent on the season.

Gracious Professionalism

Gracious Professionalism, as defined by FIRST, is a way of doing things to encourage excellent-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Gracious Professionalism is more than just two words; it is a manner of acting to respect everyone around you in the FIRST community to encourage the highest-tier work and the best attitude possible.