FIRST Technology Challenge

Have you been watching The Fosters on FreeForm *? The FIRST® community has a starring role this summer with both FIRST® Tech Challenge and FIRST® Robotics Competition robots featured prominently in a STEAM-centered story line in an upcoming episode. But we don’t want to spoil anything. Why watch alone when you can throw a viewing party with your team? Here are 7 ideas for an awesome #omgrobots-themed viewing party for the episode airing August 15 th at 8/7c on FreeForm. 1. #makeitloud. Of course you want to bring your besties from your team, but look beyond the usual suspects to involve some new folks so they can get a taste of how amazingly fun FIRST can be. We bet your team has some great graphic design talent. Whether you go steampunk or ‘50s sci-fi, make sure your invitations reflect the main STEAM-y theme. 2. Gather plenty of chairs and/or cushions. There will be plenty of time to crouch in those crazy robot-building poses when your FIRST season starts. For now, g...

Happy Summer, FIRST® Tech Challenge Teams! That's right! We are more than half-way through the summer, and we here at Headquarters have not been idle (even while partaking in the occasion ice cream cone). The Team Information Matching System (TIMS) has been replaced by our new Team Registration housed within www.firstinspires.org . This system now plays host to ALL FOUR PROGRAM , has easier access between multiple Teams, and is located within our home website. FIRST® as an organization has moved to a single sign on within the FIRST Website ( my.firstinspires.org/Dashboard/ ). All Team Registration for each program is handled through this FIRST Portal. New Teams Once a FIRST account is created and an individual is logged in, Teams will be navigated to the Dashboard where they will be able to select “Create a Team”. Teams will select a program and be walked through the wizard to create a Team Profile. For more detailed instructions check out our Creating a Team Video.  For further...

By FIRST ® President, Don Bossi For those of us at FIRST® Headquarters (HQ) and many of our affiliated organizations throughout the world, the most fun and rewarding part of our roles is having the opportunity to meet and speak with the kids who participate in our Programs, as well as the adult Coaches, Mentors and Volunteers who support them.  I love hearing their stories of impact, growth and change.  If you wonder whether we ever get tired of those stories, we don’t!  Please keep them coming. That said, I do get one question more frequently than all the rest, so I decided to answer it here today – Where is FIRST going? Let me begin by giving you a little background on where FIRST is today. Using the United States as an example, FIRST programs only exist in about 9 percent of all K-12 schools in this country. In addition to these school-based teams, we do have many community-based teams that help fill the gap. However, even with those, it’s safe to say that FIRST pr...

Listed below are all pages that FIRST ® Tech Challenge Teams may require both throughout their competition season, and during the off-season. Make sure to bookmark the pages you feel would best help you and your Team! If you still find that you require additional help, feel free to reach out to the FIRST ® team at ftcteams@firstinspires.org. Overview Pages FIRST ® Webpage www.firstinspires.org FIRST Tech Challenge main page www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc Regional Contacts Search Portal - Find your Regional FIRST Contact. http://www.firstinspires.com/node/2546 Game Materials - Includes all the season materials, including the Game Manuals, link to the Forum, Forum Answered Questions, Field instructions, and link to buy field element. http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info Getting Started Starting a Team Resources - Includes step-by-step resources for starting an FIRST Tech Challenge team. http://ww...

AndyMark will start accepting Team pre-orders for the 2016-2017 field sets beginning on 7/1/2016! All team shipments will be sent out on 9/9/2016. There will not be Saturday deliveries. For orders to ship by 9/9/2016 they must be placed with AndyMark and processed by 8/26/2016.  2016-2017 Beacons FIRST Tech Challenge is excited to announce that for the 2016-2017 seasons’ game, we will be reusing the RES-Q℠ Beacon. The beacon will function differently than it had for the FIRST RES-Q℠ game, and there will be a total of four Beacons on each field instead of just two. Teams do not have to purchase brand new beacons, they will be able to reuse Beacons purchased from last season. The Beacons used last season will need to be reprogrammed with the 2016-2017 game’s software for those Teams that would like to reuse their already purchased beacons. AndyMark will be offering a Programming Tool to reprogram each beacon*. AndyMark has been hard at work this summer to make some significant chang...

Welcome Rookie Coaches and Mentors!  Congratulations on taking the first step on your FIRST ® journey by signing up for FIRST ® Tech Challenge! If you have stumbled upon this Resource Article and have yet to sign up for a team, check out our Start a Team Checklist & Resources that will take you through the process of starting a FIRST Tech Challenge Team. If you find you need help navigating the Team Registration - where you actually sign up for a team - look at our tutorials listed on the Information Management Systems User Support Article. If you still find that you need assistance in starting out, feel free to contact us here at FIRST by shooting an email to ftcteams@firstinspires.org . We also have a handy "Chat" function on this website that allows you to ask questions to our amazing Operations Team.  Once  on board , you will find that this Rookie Resource Article is your one-stop shop for everything you potentially will need to be s...