FIRST

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is an international organization that operates a family of robotics competitions for all ages. Founded by Dean Kamen, and Woodie Flowers in 1989, FIRST was created with the goal of inspiring young people’s interest in science, engineering, and technology. FIRST is built upon two core principles: Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. Gracious professionalism embraces that fierce competition is not separate from mutual gain. It emphasizes the importance of competition but maintaining civility, respect, and kindness. Coopertition is the other core value of FIRST. Coopertition is founded on the philosophy of cooperation and competition. Teams should help and support each other even as they compete.

FIRST operates different competitions for students of different ages: FIRST Lego League Discover, FIRST Lego League Explore, FIRST Lego League Challenge, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). The FIRST and largest competition developed by FIRST is the FIRST Robotics Competition. The competition operates in high schools for students in grades 9-12. In the 2019-2020 season, 3, 914 teams, and 97, 850 students participated in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The competition challenge changes each year, and teams are given around six weeks to construct a robot to complete the year’s tasks. FRC gives students a chance to develop and practice real-life engineering and science skills. Students must prototype, design, manufacture, and program their robots.