What is FIRST?
FIRST
What is FIRST?
FIRST, or For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization that was founded in 1992 by Dean Kamen, CEO of the Deka Corporation. Aimed towards exposing students to engineering through robotics and a competitive environment, FIRST has swept the nation.
Starting with only 28 teams in New Hampshire, FIRST has grown to a size of over 1800 participating teams worldwide. By building and competing robots, students are introduced to engineering and science, while learning life skills such as how to work with a team and how to graciously compete in a competition.
FIRST’s vision 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 heroes.” (Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST)
This Years Competition- Breakaway
Each year, a new challenge is announced, requiring students to build a robot for a certain task in only six weeks. This years competition, Breakaway, is played on a 27X54 foot rectangular, carpeted field with soccer balls. There are three robots on each alliance, one red alliance and one blue alliance. In order to score points, robots must kick balls into one of two corner goals on the opposing alliance’s near field, each point being worth one point. After balls are scored, human players work quickly to enter the balls back into play with the trident and ball return. During the finale, or the last 20 seconds of the match, robots can score more points by elevating themselves on the towers. Each robot on the tower during the finale is worth 2 points, while each robot suspended from the elevated robot is worth 3 points, allowing for a maximum of 8 points.