FIRST Technology Challenge

Intelitek invites FIRST® Tech Challenge participants to be part of the beta launch of Coderz, an engaging online learning environment for robotics Coderz is an innovative, web-based platform for robotics education that serves as an ideal tool for anyone interested in a highly engaging and motivating robotics programming environment. Coderz is appropriate for beginners, as well as advanced programmers as it can be used with an intuitive GUI for Blockly and Java coding. FIRST® is working together with Intelitek to provide programming software for the Android, Qualcomm SnapDragon, called Coderz. Coderz is not yet an approved competition option and works only in autonomous control. We see FIRST ® teams as a major part of our evolving Coderz community, which is why we would like to give 250 FIRST ® members from across the U.S. the opportunity to be the first to experience the Coderz platform, helping to make this program the best it can be for our FIRST ® teams. Whether you are a...

Name  Date  Dean's Homework Assignment The assignment is for FIRST Tech Challenge teams to support their local FIRST  LEGO League Jr. Partner by forming, mentoring or otherwise supporting new FIRST  LEGO League Jr. Teams and Events. Why is this great news? This is great for FIRST LEGO League Jr. because  FIRST Tech Challenge team members are knowledgeable about FIRST , and can be  excellent role models for young students.   It is great for   FIRST Tech Challenge team members because it’s an excellent way to give back, do FTC Outreach,  be involved in their communities, recruit future team members, and grow their FIRST  community. What does it mean to you? FIRST will collect inquiries from  FIRST Tech Challenge teams on how they can help and send them to FIRST LEGO League Jr. Partners.  Please send us an email at deanshw@firstinspires.org  to find more information about the FIRST LEGO League Jr. Partner in your region o...

     Happy New Year! We hope you are as excited for 2016 as we are here at FIRST Head Quarters . We have been working hard on the World Championship and we want to share some of the awesome things to come based on your feedback from last year's event. Last season, FIRST® tried something new. We modeled the FIRST Championship after the Olympics, with different events housed in different locations, all within one great city. FIRST Robotics Competition was housed at the Edward Jones Dome and at the America’s Center. FIRST Lego League was housed at the America’s Center, FIRST Tech Challenge was housed at the Midway and Grand Ballroom at Union Station , and FIRST Lego League Junior was housed at the Regency Ballroom at Union Station. The pairing of programs was done deliberately – we wanted to give the students from our younger programs a greater opportunity to spend time with, interact with, and learn from the students in our older programs. Planning an event o...

Enter the FedEx Innovation Challenge to win big money and prizes! The 2016 FedEx Innovation Challenge , an interactive social-media competition, is back and this year will be open to all FRC and FTC teams in the US. The Innovation Challenge takes place from January 9 – February 21, 2016.   Part problem solving, part creative challenge , this fun and engaging competition will consist of math and science problems, scavenger hunt activities, and more. Best of all, it’s super easy to play. Participating teams are required to submit responses in the form of a photo using either Twitter or Instagram. All responses will be judged on the accuracy of the answer, creativity of the response and the level of team participation and spirit. Prizes:     $5,000 and a VIP experience trip to FIRST Championship     $3,000, a roboRIO controller and a Dell Alienware laptop     $1,000, a roboRIO controller and a Dell Alienware laptop All entries are submitted via Instagram...

The FTC season is well underway. Scrimmages, Meets, and Qualifier events have officially started, and in some places the State Championship is coming up within the next couple of months. But did you know that there is still time to apply for the Dean’s List Award? Laura Irvine, a 2015 FIRST Tech Challenge Winner has this to say to any Mentor or Coach that has been thinking about nominating their students for the Dean’s List Award. “Apply! Apply! Apply! Don’t be afraid because you think other people do more than you, because it’s not really about that, it’s about how you make the most out of FIRST for yourself and the people around you. Plus the entire experience was a ton of fun, and I met lots of amazing and inspiring people along the way.” This past July, the ten   FIRST Tech Challenge and ten   FIRST Robotics Competition 2015 Dean’s List Award Winners were flown to Manchester as part of winning the Dean’ s List Award. For FIRST Tech Challenge, this was a celebration of th...

We are so excited about the new website, www.firstinspires.org . It looks so awesome! But where's all the stuff? It's still there, but moving over to the new website, we re-organized and cleaned up to make it more user-friendly. Let's take a brief tour through the new website and help you locate what you need. When you arrive at the FIRST website , click on Programs, hover over FIRST Tech Challenge, and select a category to get to the FIRST Tech Challenge program pages . Here you will find information about the Game, Season, Starting a Team, Budget, Social Media, and more. But those pages are really geared more toward folks who are new to FIRST and FIRST Tech Challenge; the resources and materials for Team, Mentors, and Volunteers is located in the Resource Library . The Resource Library houses individual documents and lists of resources. We've organized most of the resources into lists, such as: Start a Team Resources Game and Season Info Volunteer Resources and l...

One of the most unique aspects of FIRST Tech Challenge is how much our teams are invested in the FIRST Tech Challenge Community. Not only do they display pride and passion at events, but also work extremely hard to showcase both an online presence and one in their community. The amazing growth that FIRST Tech Challenge has experienced over the years is mainly due to the efforts of teams growing other teams. FIRST Tech Challenge participants understand the value of taking part in a team: the learning, the competition, and of course the sense of belonging.  To help recognize the efforts our Teams are doing in the field, FIRST Tech Challenge has created virtual badges that can be utilized by Teams on their online applications (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Has your team grown another team? 5 teams? 10 teams? Show off these accomplishments by downloading your badges on the Outreach & Marketing Resources list under "Website and Online Resources". Keep up the incredible wor...