“Hi! My name is Robert the FLL robot! I’m going to tell you all about FIRST! Let’s go... Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

Do You… Enjoy competitive sports? Like hanging out with friends? Think that building your own robot would be really cool? FIRST is a great Team building program! It brings you closer to your friends, and it’s a lot of fun!!! Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

FIRST stands for: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It is an organization that promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and Core Values through fun competitions. In these competitions, teams build robots to compete against each other by completing challenges on a gameboard. There are different levels for different age groups. FIRST LEGO League is for ages 9-14 (grades 4-8) FIRST Tech Challenge is for ages (grades 7-12) FIRST Robotics Challenge is for ages (grades 9-12) If you are younger than 9, you can start to learn about FIRST by participating in Jr. FIRST LEGO League. Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

Core Values are a key part of all FIRST programs. Being a good sport, being inclusive and considerate, and working together are some of the main points of the Core Values. FLL Teams are judged on their implementation of the Core Values, but it is important in all levels of competition, and it is just as important to have good sportsmanship as it is to do well on the Robot Game. Core Values shouldn’t just be a part of FIRST!! Core Values are very important to everyday life! Core Values may stay with you all of your life after you join FIRST! Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

In FLL, teams design and build a robot out of LEGO Mindstorms. They program their robot to complete challenges on a game board within a time limit for points. Another challenge is the Project. This is when the kids think of an innovative solution to a real life problem, based on the year’s theme. Each year, the theme is different; for example, one year it was Senior Solutions (solve a problem that senior citizens face), and the next year it was Nature’s Fury (solve a problem caused by a natural disaster). Teams are judged on three things: Robot Design, Project, and Core Values. In addition, they compete in three Robot Game matches against other Robots. FLL is a lot of fun! Some teams even get patents for their Innovative solutions! A patent is when you make sure that nobody else can steal your idea by saying that it is your idea. (You have to do a lot of paperwork.) Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

WHAT IS THE FLL ROBOT GAME? FLL Robot Game is played on an approx. 4’x8’ game table. On the table are challenges, also built out of LEGO, that entail simple tasks (pushing, pulling, moving levers, transferring objects from one place to another). Teams receive points for completing different challenges with their robot. To learn more about FLL and this year’s robot game visit this site: FIRST LEGO League Robot Game The Robot Game is the most exciting part of the competition for many teams! It is very exciting! Now, you are going to meet my friend Frederick the FTC robot! Bye!! This is an example of an FLL game board Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

FIRST Tech Challenge(FTC) is a bit different from FLL! In FTC, you create robots out of real screws and metal. Core Values is a big part of FTC, but there is no Project. Replacing the project is the Engineering Notebook. The Engineering Notebook is pretty much a log of everything that you do in your meetings and every idea that you have out of your meetings. Teams are also judged on their Robot Design, just like in FLL! The last big component is called outreach. Outreach is reaching out into your community to tell them all about FIRST! HI there! I’m Frederick the FTC robot! FTC is a lot harder than FLL, but it’s just as fun! Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

The Robot Game for FTC is a lot like FLL, except you use much bigger robots, and there is more than one robot on the mat at the same time. Obviously, the board is bigger as well! This board is on the ground, and three other robots are on the board with your robot! Part of the game are alliances. Alliances are teams of two robots that are competing to get a higher score than the other alliance on the board. As with FLL, each year, the game is different. This year, the game’s theme is FIRST Res-Q! Below is this year’s game board: Those “Mountains” on the board to my left look really hard to climb! Guess why? They are! Imagine the kind of robot that would have to climb them! Next is FIRST Robotics challenge! Are you ready to meet Felicity the FRC robot? Bye! Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) is the next level after FTC. These robots  are much bigger than the ones in FTC, and they can perform more challenging tasks. As with the other two programs, Core Values is a big component. Hello! I’m Felicity! Frederick didn’t tell you, but part of all of the FIRST programs is programming! On a computer, you have to write a program that tells your robot where to go and which motors to use. Programming is always complicated and precise, but especially so with FRC! With such big robots, your movements have to be that much more precise. Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)

Well, I hope you learned a lot about STEM and FIRST! Goodbye! Remember Core Values and have fun building! See you next time! We hope to see you in the FIRST program soon! This is Felicity the FRC robot signing off. Bye now! Written and Designed By Team Download Complete (2015)