FIRST
Chief Delphi
IFI, Inc.
NEMO
AndyMark
FIRSTcast
Blue Alliance
SOAP
FIRST Tech Challenge
The FIRST Tech Challenge is a high-school level competition which challenges students to solve problems and accomplish specific objectives in an intense competition setting. Here, students practice the basics of teamwork and the engineering process, where individuals are able to test their talents by designing, prototyping, and creating robotic systems. In past years, FIRST utilized the flexible capabilities of the VEX Robotics Design System for this competition. Beginning this year, however, FIRST adopted a combination of Lego NXT and Tetrix Robotics System for this event, allowing students to quickly fabricate and test new designs with high quality hardware.
Every season begins in the fall, and the competition spans for several months while teams from around the world attend weekly regional events. Even though it can be considered a step down from the FIRST Robotics Competition, this program is still as exciting and competitive as its higher level counterpart. In competition, students are encouraged to work together not only on their own team, but with other teams as well. Here, students practice the ideals of Gracious Professionalism on and off the field, making sportsmanship and cooperation a key part of this competition. Overall, the FIRST Tech Challenge provides a unique opportunity for students to learn many important skill sets while still allowing students the chance to have a great time creating machines and participating in exciting competitions.
