The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting,
multinational competition that teams professionals and young people
to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive
way. The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience -- and
a lot of fun.
FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with science
and technology to create a unique varsity sport for the mind. FRC helps
high-school-aged young people discover the rewarding and engaging world
of innovation and engineering.
The FIRST Robotics Competition stages short games played by remote-controlled
robots. The robots are designed and built in 6 weeks (out of a common
set of basic parts) by a team of 15 to 25 high-school-aged young people
and a handful of engineers-mentors. The students pilot the robots on
the field. Each school year, teams are formed in the fall. Competitions
take place in March and April. The FIRST Robotics Competition Regional
events are typically held in university arenas. They involve 40 to 70
teams cheered by thousands of fans over two and a half days.
In 2006, the competition reached over 28,000 high-school-aged young
people on over 1,125 teams in 33 regional events. Teams came from
Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K., and almost every
U.S. state.
