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FIRST Tech Challenge
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Current season, competition or edition: DECODE | |
 | |
| Formerly | FIRST Vex Challenge |
|---|---|
| Sport | Robotics-related games |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Dean Kamen Woodie Flowers |
| First season | 2005 |
| Director | Rachel Moore |
| Country | International |
| Venues | Houston, US (world level), numerous smaller locations (qualifier and regional levels) |
| Most recent champions | Inspire Award Winner: 18139: Rebel Robotics Championship Winning Alliance: 11260: Up-A-Creek Robotics  20870: Team Matrix 19746: The Disruptingly Robocephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team |
| Broadcasters | NASA TV, Twitch |
| Related competitions | FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Lego League Challenge FIRST Lego League Explore |
| Official website | FTC |
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams. FIRST Tech Challenge is one of the six major robotics programs organized by FIRST, which its other five programs include FIRST Lego League Discover, FIRST Lego League Explore, FIRST Lego League Challenge, FIRST Robotics Competition, and FIRST Global Challenge.
The competition consists of local qualifiers, regional championships and the world championship, the FIRST Championship, and in every season, a kickoff is held to showcase the season's theme and game. After kickoff, robots are designed, built, and programmed by teams, and teams are encouraged to conduct outreach with their communities. Local qualifiers are held for teams to compete and qualify for regional championships, and from that point, regional championships are held for teams to qualify for the world championship.
The robot kit is Android-based, and it is programmed using Java, Kotlin, the Blocks programming interface created with Blockly, or other Android programming systems. Teams, with the guidance of coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on innovative, sound engineering principles. Awards are given for robot performance as well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments.[1]
History
[edit]The FIRST Tech Challenge grew out of the existing FIRST Robotics Competition and the IFI Robovation platform. FIRST, RadioShack, and Innovation First collaborated to develop an improved version of the IFI Robovation kit. The kit was significantly upgraded and called the VEX Robotics Design System.
In 2004–05, FIRST piloted the FIRST Vex Challenge as a potential program.[2] The pilot season brought together over 130 teams to compete in 6 regional tournaments[citation needed] in a 1/3 scale FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar.[3] Fifty teams participated in the FVC tournament at the FIRST Championship in April, 2006. On April 29, 2006, the FIRST Board of Directors voted to extend FVC for the 2006–2007 season.
In Summer 2007, after two seasons as the FIRST Vex Challenge, FIRST announced that the program would be renamed to FIRST Tech Challenge.
For the 2008 season, Pitsco developed a platform that uses the NXT brick along with additional hardware and a new structural framework under the new name of TETRIX. Then, in the 2015-2016 FTC season, the NXT bricks that were used previously as the robot controller were replaced by Android phones running Android KitKat (4.4) using Qualcomm Snapdragon (410) chips.[4]
In 2020, FTC replaced the Android phones with a Rev Robotics Control Hub and kept one of the phones to use for a wireless connection between one or two Logitech or Xbox (Windows compatible) controllers and the control hub. The FTC championship was cancelled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
In 2021, the second Android phone was replaced with the REV Robotics Driver Hub, allowing teams to directly connect their gamepads without the need for any adaptors. Motorola phones running the Android operating system are still competition legal to use as a robot controller or driver station, but it is not recommended.
Competition
[edit]
Advancement from one level of competition to another in FIRST Tech Challenge can be achieved by either winning on the field (50%) or by winning the awards listed below during judging (50%).[6] Judging at competitions is done through a multitude of ways such as team presentations, pit interviews, judges reading teams' portfolios, etc. Starting in 2025, teams advance based on a point system that combines robot performance on the field with judge awards.[7]
Schedule
[edit]
Every year, in September, FIRST announces the game challenge to FTC teams at Kickoff. Qualifying Tournaments and Regional & State Championships occur from October through March. Teams are allowed to register for three Qualifying Tournaments. Some states, such as New Jersey, hold league meets that are more similar to sporting events. They are smaller and occur more often.[8] For teams advancing from the United States, from the 2013-14 through the 2017–18 seasons, four Super-Regional Championship Tournaments have been held from March through early April, with the World Championships occurring in late April. Starting with the 2018-19 FTC season, the Super Regional Championships will no longer occur and teams will advance from their local championships directly to one of the formerly two World Championships in Houston or formerly Detroit.[9]
Matches
[edit]On competition days, the number of matches varies based on the number of teams competing. Matches are completely random in their order and alliances. For the matches, teams are assigned to either red alliance or blue alliance, with each alliance consisting of two teams. All parties involved in the match must choose their OpModes before the match begins. Drivers must not touch the gamepad controllers during the first 30 seconds of the match, also known as the autonomous period. Then, the 2 minute driver controlled period starts and the match is completely driver-controlled from then on. In the final 30 seconds of the match, drivers attempt to park in a point scoring zone and/or complete tasks that can only be done in the end game period of the match. Prior to 2025, the winning alliance received two qualifying points while the losing alliance received zero. Now teams earn up to six ranking points in each match, where three are given for winning the match, and three are awarded for specific in-game objectives.
Judging
[edit]Besides matches, teams can advance through awards, which the judges give at the end of competition day. Teams are required to submit an engineering notebook and/or engineering portfolio in order to be considered for some judged awards. Before matches begin, teams are required to do a structured interview with the judges. Throughout the day, judges can and will observe the matches and conduct pit interviews with teams. After the end of matches, judges deliberate and discuss about the awards, and at the awards ceremony, judges present the awards. Winner and finalist teams with awards such as the Inspire Award can advance depending on the number of allowed advancements by the qualifier.[10][11]
Gracious Professionalism
[edit]The core value that FIRST Tech Challenge promotes is embodied in the phrase "Gracious Professionalism." Showing gracious professionalism can be done in many ways, from helping another team, to simply having fun at competitions. It means making sure every team has an equal opportunity, and that no one is left behind.
Events
[edit]Official FTC events are Qualifying or Championship Tournaments; unofficial events are Scrimmage Tournaments. Based on their performance in their Regional/State Championships (US) teams were invited to one of the World Championship based on predetermined advancement criteria. Winners of Qualifying Tournaments are invited to Championship Tournaments and until 2017-18 winners of Championship tournaments were then invited to Super-Regional Tournaments.[12] After the winning alliances of the two championships were declared, they were invited to participate in the Festival of Champions in Manchester, New Hampshire to determine the FTC World Champion. On January 10, 2018, FTC announced that Super-Regionals will be abolished after the 2017–2018 season. Due to this, the number of FTC teams that attend each World Championship was increased from 128 to 160 starting in 2019.[13] In the 2021-2022 season and onwards, only 1 World Championship is held in Houston. As of 2025, this event hosts 256 teams.
Teams advance from one level of competition to the next based on the advancement criteria laid out in that year's Competition Manual. The Advancement criteria were changed for the 2015–2016 season to add criteria 7 "Winning Alliance, 2nd Team selected" and 13 "Finalist Alliance, 2nd Team selected," shifting the successive criteria down one position.[14] In the 2025-2026 season, the advancement criteria was completely redone to benefit all-around teams.
Awards
[edit]In addition to the Winning and Finalist Alliances receiving recognition for their field performance; the following list includes awards presented at official Championship and Qualifying Tournaments based on judging criterion including engineering notebook, team interview, observation, and/or field performance, etc:[10] Award winners and finalists, especially those of the Inspire Award, are given higher priority for advancement to the next level of competition. Optional awards are not given at every competition and do not increase a team’s chances to advance.
- Inspire Award: This award is generally given to teams who achieve greatness in all parts of FIRST including programming, robot design, the portfolio, judging presentations, gracious professionalism, and outreach. This team embodies what it is to be a FIRST robotics team and is a team that others can look up to as a role model. The Inspire Award is the highest ranked award as it embodies all other awards inside of it and allows a direct bid to the next level of competition.
- Think Award: The winning team of this award clearly displays their engineering and design process in their engineering notebook. This award honors the team who had an engineering section of their engineering notebook that clearly displayed the mathematics, science, and design process that went into the building of their robot.
- Connect Award: This award is granted to the team that most connects to their engineering community outside of FIRST by sharing who they are, what FIRST is, and how others can become involved. On top of that, this team's engineering notebook shows that they have a clear fundraising, business, and outreach plan that they will follow throughout the season.
- Innovate Award sponsored by RTX: This award is given to the team with the most innovative and creative robot design. This robot must work in a consistent manner but does not need to perform well in every round to be eligible for this award.
- Design Award: This award focuses on the design aspect of the robot. The team winning this award must show a thoughtful design on their robot that is both functional and aesthetic. The robot must distinguish itself from other competitors by showing off its unique design. This design can be shown both on the competition field and in the engineering notebook through sketches, blueprints, photos, and computer-aided design (CAD). CAD helps teams plan and create robots before actually building the robot in person.
- Motivate Award: The winning team of this award exemplifies what it means to be a FIRST team. This team works together by showing gracious professionalism at competitions and by recruiting and assisting other teams and members at home.
- Control Award: This programming centered award commends the team that had the best use of unique programs and successful sensors used in their rounds. This team's engineering notebook must have had a very detailed in explaining their implementation of software, sensors, and mechanical control.
- Compass Award: This optional award is given to a team that creates a 60 second video recognizing a coach or mentor, and highlights what sets them apart.
- Judge’s Choice Award: This optional award is given to a team that the judge’s believe deserve recognition but wouldn’t otherwise qualify for an existing award. The award can be given under a different name depending on the region.
Competition themes
[edit]In the past, the challenges have been based on several different themes:
| Year | Theme | Number of Participants | Number of Teams | Number of Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-2006 | Half-Pipe Hustle | 137[15] | 6[15] | |
| 2006-2007 | Hangin'-A-Round | 5,500[16] | 554[16] | 25[16] |
| 2007-2008 | Quad Quandary | 8,000[17] | 799[17] | |
| 2008-2009 | Face Off | 10,000+[18] | 986[18] | 39[18] |
| 2009-2010 | Hot Shot! | 11,000+[19] | 1,111[19] | 51[19] |
| 2010-2011 | Get Over It! | 16,000+[20] | 1,606[20] | 102[20] |
| 2011-2012 | Bowled Over! | 20,000+[21] | 2,100[21] | 201[21] |
| 2012-2013 | Ring It Up! | 27,000+[22] | 2,779[22] | 280[22] |
| 2013-2014 | Block Party! | 38,000+[23] | 3,800[23] | 310[23] |
| 2014-2015 | Cascade Effect | 45,000 (est.)[24] | 4,445[24] | 456[24] |
| 2015-2016 | FIRST Res-Q | 47,000 (est.)[25] | 4,711[25] | 600[25] |
| 2016-2017 | Velocity Vortex | 52,000 (est.)[26] | 5,222[26] | 716[26] |
| 2017-2018 | First Relic Recovery | 60,000 (est.)[27] | 6,021[27] | 754[27] |
| 2018-2019 | Rover Ruckus | 68,180[28] | 6,818[28] | 877[28] |
| 2019-2020 | Skystone | 77,560[29] | 7,610[29] | |
| 2020-2021 | Ultimate Goal | 49,210[30] | 5,172[30] | |
| 2021-2022 | Freight Frenzy | 70,400+[31] | ||
| 2022-2023 | Powerplay | 87,400+[32] | ||
| 2023-2024 | Centerstage | 99,000+[33] | ||
| 2024-2025 | Into The Deep | 109,000+[34] | ||
| 2025-2026 | Decode |
Notable people
[edit]See also
[edit]- FIRST - FIRST Organization
- FIRST Robotics Competition
- FIRST Lego League
- FIRST Championship
References
[edit]- ^ "FIRST Tech Challenge Game and Season Info". September 8, 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ "Finding the Top Bot: High School Students (and Their Robots) Take the Prize at Tech Challenge". Scientific American. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
- ^ "2005 Vex Field". chiefdelphi.com. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "FIRST® Announces 'Game-Changing' Technology Platform for use in Worldwide Student Robotics Competitions". Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ "COVID-19 Impact on FIRST Events (Updated March 20, 2020)". FIRST. 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "FIRST Tech Challenge Awards". FIRST. 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ "Advancement & FIRST Championship Update". community.firstinspires.org.
- ^ "Event Types". FIRST. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^ "2011- 2012 FTC Season Calendar". FIRST. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Game Manual Part 1" (PDF). FIRST. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Judge and Judge Advisor Guide" (PDF). FIRST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Super Regionals - Then and Now". Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ^ "Team Advancement Criteria 2017–2018" (PDF). FIRST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ a b "FIRST 2006 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2007 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b "FIRST 2008 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2009 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2010 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2011 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2012 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2013 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2014 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2015 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2016 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2017 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2018 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "FIRST 2019 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b "FIRST 2020 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
- ^ a b "FIRST 2021 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
- ^ "FIRST 2022 Annual Report" (PDF).
- ^ "FIRST 2023 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
- ^ "FIRST 2024 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
- ^ "FIRST 2025 Annual Impact Report" (PDF).
External links
[edit]
FIRST Tech Challenge
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History
Origins and Founding
The FIRST Vex Challenge was founded in 2004 by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, the co-founders of the broader FIRST organization, as a mid-level robotics program positioned between the entry-level FIRST LEGO League and the more advanced FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).[2] This initiative aimed to target middle and high school students by offering lower barriers to entry, including simpler assembly requirements and reduced costs compared to FRC, to broaden access to hands-on STEM experiences.[7] The program's first season launched in 2005 as a pilot, drawing over 130 teams that utilized VEX robotics kits to build and program robots, with an emphasis on affordable hardware that supported rapid prototyping and iterative design.[8] Initial partnerships with Innovation First International (IFI), the developer of the VEX system, and RadioShack for kit distribution made the program feasible, with each team kit priced at approximately $300 to ensure accessibility for schools and community groups.[7][9] From its inception, the FIRST Vex Challenge sought to inspire interest in STEM fields, particularly among students in underserved communities, by providing an engaging platform for engineering innovation without the resource-intensive demands of higher-level competitions.[2] The pilot culminated in a demonstration event at the 2005 FIRST Championship, followed by the first full national event in 2006 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, where teams showcased their robots in head-to-head matches.[7]Technological and Structural Evolution
The FIRST VEX Challenge was officially renamed the FIRST Tech Challenge in 2007 to emphasize its expanded focus on engineering and technology skills beyond the initial VEX platform, marking its transition to a full FIRST program.[10] This rebranding coincided with rapid growth, reaching nearly 800 teams by the end of the 2007-2008 season as participation spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.[11] The program began with approximately 130 teams in its 2005 pilot year, demonstrating early interest in an accessible robotics competition for middle and high school students.[12] In 2008, FIRST introduced the TETRIX building system for the 2008-2009 Face Off! challenge, replacing the VEX kit to provide greater modularity and structural similarity to the FIRST Robotics Competition, while also launching FTC-specific control systems for robot operation.[13][11] This hardware evolution enhanced customization options for teams, allowing more innovative designs with aluminum extrusions, gears, and actuators. A significant software overhaul occurred in the 2015-2016 season, shifting to an Android-based platform using Java, Kotlin, or Blocks programming languages, which integrated smartphones as robot controllers for improved accessibility and real-time processing powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor.[14] In 2020, the REV Robotics Control Hub was adopted as the primary controller, offering enhanced reliability, wireless connectivity, and support for expansion hubs to handle complex sensor and motor integrations.[15] The COVID-19 pandemic prompted major structural adaptations, including the cancellation of the 2020 World Championship and a shift to remote events for the 2020-2021 season to ensure participant safety.[16] Starting in 2021-2022, FIRST consolidated to a single annual World Championship in Houston, Texas, qualifying 256 top teams through regional and state events rather than multiple international qualifiers, streamlining advancement while maintaining global representation.[17] These changes prioritized health protocols and logistical efficiency post-pandemic. Overall program growth has been substantial, expanding from 130 teams in 2005 to over 7,000 teams and 99,000 participants across 81 countries in the 2023-2024 season, reflecting increased international adoption and emphasis on inclusive STEM education.[18][19]Program Overview
Eligibility and Team Composition
The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is open to students in grades 7 through 12, corresponding to ages 12 to 18, with participation available worldwide through local affiliates or direct registration.[1] No prior technical experience is required, enabling broad accessibility for participants of varying skill levels.[4] Teams may form through schools, community organizations, homeschool groups, or independent clubs, fostering flexible entry points for diverse youth.[4] Teams consist of 2 to 15 students, with ideal sizes ranging from 6 to 12 to ensure active involvement, supplemented by at least two adult lead coaches and optional additional mentors such as parents, teachers, or professionals.[4][20][21] The program emphasizes student-led design and construction of robots, where mentors provide guidance on engineering principles, safety, and strategy but are prohibited from directly building or programming to promote hands-on learning and ownership.[20] Registration occurs through the FIRST online Dashboard portal for teams in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, or via international partners elsewhere, requiring creation of a team profile, payment of fees, and completion of youth protection training.[4] The annual registration fee is $325 for the 2025-2026 season, covering insurance, official team numbering, and access to program materials, though total startup costs often reach approximately $1,500 when including an initial robotics kit; event entry fees vary by region and are additional.[22][4] Within the FIRST ecosystem, FTC serves as an intermediate program bridging FIRST LEGO League Challenge—for students ages 9 to 14 focusing on introductory robotics—and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which targets high school students with more intensive, six-week builds, offering mid-level engineering challenges without FRC's compressed timeline.[1] To enhance inclusivity, FIRST provides scholarships, grants, and fee subsidies targeted at underrepresented groups, including girls, students from low-income communities, and those in rural or diverse regions, supporting equitable access.[23] As of the 2023-2024 season, the program reached teams in 81 countries, with participation continuing to expand globally.[6]Resources and Support Systems
The FIRST Tech Challenge provides teams with standardized hardware kits to facilitate robot construction and competition participation. The official FTC Starter Kit V3.1, priced at $695 for the 2025-2026 season, includes essential REV Robotics components such as structural elements, motors, sensors, and the Control Hub for robot control.[24] Additional field elements, including game-specific obstacles and scoring objects, are supplied at official events to ensure equitable access without requiring teams to procure them independently.[3] Software resources for FTC emphasize accessible programming tools tailored to Android-based systems. The FTC Software Development Kit (SDK) enables teams to develop and deploy code on competition robots, supporting Java and Blocks programming languages with built-in libraries for hardware integration.[25] Accompanying tutorials and sample code are available through official documentation, covering topics from basic setup to advanced autonomous routines, while OnBot Java offers a web-based editor for real-time testing and simulation without full hardware dependency.[26] Funding and partnerships play a crucial role in making FTC accessible, particularly for underserved communities. Major sponsors including Qualcomm, RTX, Boeing, and 3M provide financial and technical support, with RTX serving as the presenting sponsor for the 2025-2026 DECODE season and Qualcomm contributing to broader FIRST initiatives like Snapdragon-powered controls.[27] FIRST offers grants through its STEM Community Innovation program to help establish new teams, with awards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 aimed at diversity initiatives that promote inclusion in STEM for underrepresented groups.[23] Training resources equip teams and mentors with structured guidance throughout the season. FIRST delivers online professional development courses, including remote modules on coaching, team management, and technical skills, alongside a series of webinars such as rookie overviews and season-specific strategies.[28] Regional training events, organized through Program Delivery Partners, offer hands-on workshops, while engineering notebooks are utilized by teams for documenting design processes, iterations, and outreach efforts to support award eligibility and long-term learning. Community support extends through FIRST's global network, fostering mentorship and sustained engagement. Teams gain access to alumni volunteers who provide guidance on technical and leadership challenges, contributing to a mentorship ecosystem that emphasizes Gracious Professionalism.[29] Official studies indicate that 81% of FIRST alumni pursue STEM majors by their fourth year of college, highlighting the program's long-term impact on career trajectories in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.[6][30]Season Structure
Annual Timeline and Kickoff
The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) season follows a structured annual calendar that begins in early September and culminates in late spring, providing teams with a clear progression from game revelation to global competition. The season emphasizes iterative design, testing, and competition, allowing student teams to apply engineering principles in a time-bound framework. This timeline has evolved to accommodate global participation, with adjustments for accessibility following the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The season kicks off in early September with a synchronized event, typically held virtually or in-person across regions, where the annual game challenge is revealed through an animated video followed by the immediate release of the game manual. For the 2025-2026 season, the kickoff occurred on September 6, 2025, unveiling the DECODE™ challenge presented by RTX, which focuses on investigating artifacts and unlocking mysteries. This event serves as the starting point for teams to begin planning, with resources like the game manual and control system software made available instantly to foster immediate engagement.[3][31] Following the kickoff, teams enter the six-week build season, an intensive period dedicated to robot design, prototyping, construction, and initial testing. During this phase, which runs from early September to mid-October, teams must adhere to game rules and complete their robots for inspection at qualifying events, ensuring compliance with safety and functionality standards before competitions begin. Robot development continues iteratively during the subsequent competition phase. This structured timeframe encourages efficient project management and collaboration among team members.[31][32] The competition phase spans from late October through March, featuring a series of qualifying tournaments and regional events where teams compete to earn advancement points. These events, often hybrid to enhance accessibility post-COVID, allow all qualifiers to contribute directly to World Championship invitations through a points-based system introduced for the 2025-2026 season, which evaluates well-rounded performance and promotes broader participation without tiered elimination until the finals. The phase builds team skills through progressive challenges and peer interactions. For 2025-2026 updates, FIRST emphasized hybrid formats for qualifiers and expanded the World Championship to 336 teams.[32][33] The season peaks at the FIRST Championship, held in late April, where top teams from qualifiers convene for the FTC World Championship division. For the 2024-2025 season, it took place April 16-19, 2025, in Houston, Texas, hosting 256 teams in a multi-day event combining matches, judging, and celebrations. The 2025-2026 championship is scheduled for April 29-May 2, 2026, in the same location, underscoring Houston's role as a recurring host for this culminating international gathering.[34] Off-season activities occur from late spring through summer, offering teams opportunities for skill-building without impacting official rankings. These include workshops, scrimmages, and non-competitive events like code-a-thons or regional practices, which help teams refine strategies and mentor newcomers in preparation for the next season. Guidelines for hosting such events ensure alignment with FIRST's educational goals.[35][36]Game Development and Build Period
Following the annual kickoff event in early September, FIRST releases the game manual, which provides comprehensive details on the playing field specifications, scoring objectives, and robot construction rules for the season's challenge. This manual serves as the primary guide for teams, detailing how robots interact with game elements while adhering to safety and fairness standards. Key robot constraints include a maximum starting configuration size of 18 inches by 18 inches by 18 inches (45.72 cm cube), a maximum weight of 42 lbs (19.05 kg) including battery and attachments, allowing expansion during matches up to specified limits, such as 36 inches by 36 inches horizontally and 18 inches vertically (or 38 inches in the final 20 seconds under certain conditions).[37] The build season, spanning approximately six weeks from the kickoff to the start of qualification events, is a student-led endeavor focused on iterative development from initial concept sketches to a functional prototype and final robot assembly. Teams employ computer-aided design (CAD) software for virtual prototyping, test mechanical subsystems, and integrate electrical and control components, often drawing from the official robot set that includes motors, sensors, and structural elements. Safety remains integral, with teams conducting internal checks before arriving at events, where official inspectors verify compliance with construction rules, including material legality and operational integrity, prior to competition participation.[37][38] Throughout the build process, teams maintain a detailed engineering portfolio—often in digital or notebook form—to chronicle their journey, capturing design iterations, encountered failures, problem-solving strategies, and innovative solutions. This documentation not only fosters reflective learning but is mandatory for submission during event judging, demonstrating the team's technical growth and adherence to engineering best practices. Portfolios typically include sketches, data logs from tests, and evidence of student ownership in decision-making.[37] Testing occurs in parallel with building, involving on-robot programming to develop autonomous routines that execute without human input, alongside teleoperated modes controlled by drivers via joysticks and tablets. Teams conduct driver practice sessions to hone human-robot coordination and participate in unofficial pre-event scrimmages, where they simulate match conditions against other teams to identify weaknesses and optimize performance in both autonomous and driver-controlled phases. These activities ensure the robot is robust and adaptable before official competitions begin.[37][39] A hallmark of FTC's approach is its emphasis on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts sourced from the provided robot kit and approved vendors, minimizing the need for custom machining or specialized fabrication tools and thereby increasing accessibility for teams with limited resources. This contrasts with the FIRST Robotics Competition, where custom manufacturing is more prevalent; in FTC, teams primarily modify and assemble pre-made components like chassis kits and electronics, enabling quicker prototyping and broader participation among middle and high school students.[38][40]Competition Mechanics
Match Format and Gameplay
In FIRST Tech Challenge competitions, matches are structured as head-to-head contests between two alliances, each comprising two robots operated by teams. During qualification matches, alliances are randomly assigned based on the match schedule, with seeding determined by cumulative qualification scores; playoff alliances are selected by top-seeded teams picking partners.[41] Each match consists of two distinct periods: a 30-second autonomous period, where robots execute pre-programmed actions without human intervention using onboard sensors and software, followed by an 8-second transition, and then a 2-minute driver-controlled (teleoperated) period, during which team members use joysticks at driver stations to control the robots. There is no separate endgame period in the standard format, though season-specific rules may include time-sensitive bonuses scored in the final seconds of the teleoperated period.[41][42] The playing field measures 12 feet by 12 feet and features a modular foam mat tiled with 24-inch squares, surrounded by protective alliance stations and human player zones; robots start from designated positions within alliance-specific starting tiles, emphasizing strategic positioning for game piece interactions and defense. Scoring mechanics vary annually to align with the season's theme, focusing on tasks that reward precision, collaboration, and reliability, such as manipulating game pieces into designated zones or structures. For instance, in the 2024-2025 season themed "Into The Deep," alliances earned points through specimen collection by scoring clipped samples into submersible chambers (6 points for low chamber, 10 for high), habitat marking via sample placement in net zones or baskets (2-8 points depending on location), and rover deployment by parking or ascending on a habitat truss in the endgame (3-30 points based on level).[43][44] Tiebreakers for match outcomes and seeding prioritize autonomous period points to emphasize programming prowess, followed by total match points if needed; in playoffs, ties result in additional matches until a decisive win.[41]Events and Advancement Pathways
The FIRST Tech Challenge competition season features a structured hierarchy of events that allow teams to progress from local levels to international championships. Local qualifying tournaments (QTs) and league tournaments (LTs) serve as entry-level events, typically lasting 1-2 days and involving 20-50 teams per event, where participants compete in qualification matches, alliance selections, and playoffs to earn advancement points.[41][45] These events are followed by state or regional championships, which aggregate advancing teams from qualifiers within geographic areas; super-regionals, which once bridged qualifiers and championships, were discontinued after the 2017-2018 season in favor of a streamlined regional model.[46] Advancement through the season relies on a points-based system that balances on-field performance and off-field recognition, ensuring well-rounded team evaluation. Approximately 50% of advancement is determined by match wins and playoff success—teams earn 2-16 points from qualification rankings (based on win-loss-tie records), up to 20 points for alliance selection order, and 0-40 points for playoff progression (e.g., 40 points for winning the event)—while the other 50% comes via judged awards, awarding up to 60 points (e.g., 60 for first-place Inspire Award).[33] The top teams, ranked by cumulative points from their first three entry-level events, advance to regional championships; from there, the highest performers proceed to the FIRST Championship. As of the 2024-2025 season, the top 256 teams—forming 128 alliances—qualified for the World Championship; for the 2025-2026 season, this increases to 336 teams.[47][46][33] At events, teams are seeded based on their performance in typically 5 or 6 qualification matches, where random alliances compete to accumulate ranking points via match scores and tiebreakers like autonomous points and penalty differentials. Playoffs follow alliance selection, with the top eight seeded teams picking one partner to form 2-team alliances that compete in double-elimination brackets until a winner is determined, with advancing alliances earning additional points toward championship qualification; at the FIRST Championship, alliances consist of 3 teams for added strategic flexibility.[41][48] The FIRST Championship, held annually in Houston, Texas, since 2021, culminates the season as a multi-day international event divided into divisions for manageability, accommodating hundreds of teams on multiple fields.[17] The finals feature the Einstein Field, where winning alliances from each division compete in a bracket format to crown the world champions. In 2025, over 7,000 teams participated across more than 1,000 events worldwide, spanning over 80 countries.[38][32][6]Evaluation and Recognition
Judging Process
The judging process in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) evaluates teams' non-match performance through structured interviews, portfolio reviews, and assessments of their engineering and teamwork efforts, separate from on-field competition results. This process occurs during regional, district, and championship events, where teams demonstrate their innovation, documentation, and collaborative problem-solving to volunteer judges.[49] Teams participate in structured interviews lasting 10-15 minutes, typically divided into a 5-minute team presentation followed by 5-10 minutes of questions and answers with a panel of 2-3 judges. These interviews focus on the team's journey, highlighting aspects such as innovation in robot design, documentation of their build process, and demonstrations of teamwork and real-world problem-solving. Informal pit interviews may follow, allowing judges to visit team workspaces for deeper discussions on potential award nominations, ensuring a comprehensive view of the team's efforts beyond the playing field.[49][50] Portfolio reviews form a critical component, where judges examine engineering notebooks or portfolios—limited to 15 pages—to assess the team's iterative design process, data collection, and analysis of challenges encountered. These documents must illustrate genuine problem-solving, including trade-offs, lessons learned, and evidence of technical iterations, providing tangible proof of the team's engineering rigor without relying on match outcomes. Portfolios are optional for most evaluations but required for certain engineering-focused recognitions, emphasizing thorough documentation as a key to demonstrating excellence.[49][50] Evaluation criteria are guided by detailed rubrics that measure technical achievement, strategic planning, innovation, and outreach efforts, all independent of robot performance in matches. Judges prioritize teams that showcase perseverance, creativity, and inclusive practices, using standardized questions from an official bank to ensure fairness and consistency across events. This approach celebrates holistic contributions, such as skill development and community impact, rather than isolated metrics.[49][50] Judges are trained volunteers, including engineers, educators, and community members aged 18 or older, who undergo 2-4 hours of pre-event certification through FIRST's learning management system to understand award guidelines and maintain impartiality. The Judge Advisor coordinates the process, assigning panels, facilitating deliberations, and ensuring confidentiality of notes, while judges provide constructive feedback to teams via summary forms to support ongoing improvement. No prior FIRST experience is required, but volunteers must disclose conflicts of interest.[51][49] These evaluations directly inform nominations for engineering awards, integrating interview insights and portfolio analyses to recognize outstanding non-match achievements, with no judging conducted during gameplay. This separation reinforces FTC's emphasis on comprehensive team development.[50][49]Awards Categories
The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) awards system recognizes teams for excellence across technical innovation, team dynamics, community impact, and competitive performance, promoting a balanced approach to STEM education and the program's core values. Judged awards, determined through team portfolios, structured interviews, and robot demonstrations, constitute the majority of categories and are selected by a panel of judges based on specific criteria outlined in the official competition manual. Tournament awards, in contrast, are based solely on match outcomes during qualification and playoff rounds. This structure ensures that recognition extends beyond winning matches to encompass holistic achievements, with one award typically given per category at qualifying events depending on the number of teams (e.g., 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for larger events of 41-64 teams).[50] The Inspire Award represents the highest honor in FTC, celebrating the team that most fully embodies the program's mission as an inspiring role model through superior engineering, inclusive teamwork, and gracious professionalism. Criteria require submission of a detailed engineering portfolio and strong performance across multiple judged categories, such as innovation and outreach, while demonstrating positive team dynamics during interviews. One first-place winner is selected per event, with additional places for larger tournaments; at the World Championship, the winner is recognized as the season's top program champion—for instance, Team 18139 Rebel Robotics received this award in the 2024-2025 season's Finals Division. The award's emphasis on overall excellence evolved in the 2010s to prioritize FIRST values over pure competitive dominance, tracing back to the program's origins in the early VEX Challenge collaborations before FTC's formal launch in 2007.[50][2] Engineering-focused awards highlight technical prowess in robot design and implementation, with judges evaluating one winner per category (or shared among categories for smaller events) based on creativity, functionality, and process documentation:- Innovate Award (sponsored by RTX): Recognizes teams for imaginative and effective robot solutions to game challenges, emphasizing unique engineering approaches, risk mitigation, and demonstrated stability during interviews and demos.[50][5]
- Control Award: Honors excellence in programming and sensor integration to enhance robot autonomy and reliability, requiring a portfolio summary of software strategies and consistent on-field performance.[50]
- Design Award: Celebrates elegant, practical robot designs that balance aesthetics, efficiency, and functionality tailored to the season's game, assessed through explanations of design rationale and strategic effectiveness.[50]
- Think Award: Acknowledges the team's engineering journey through a comprehensive portfolio that documents processes, lessons learned, trade-offs, and resource sharing, serving as a key foundation for the Inspire Award.[50]
- Connect Award: Rewards teams for building connections with the STEM community through outreach and community service activities—such as demonstrations at events, workshops, mentoring other teams, open practices, and participation in community service opportunities—to adopt innovative tools and practices and promote STEM education. These persistent efforts in collaboration, knowledge exchange, and meaningful engagement contribute to eligibility and success in this award, while developing students' communication, presentation, teamwork, and public speaking skills; building confidence; facilitating networking; aiding recruitment of new members, mentors, and sponsors; increasing awareness of STEM and robotics; strengthening team connections; and supporting FIRST's mission.[50][52]
- Reach Award: Recognizes successful recruitment and outreach initiatives that expand participation in FIRST, including creative methods to inspire new members and act as program ambassadors.[50]
- Sustain Award: Honors strategic planning for long-term team viability, such as financial management, role definitions, and progress tracking to ensure future success.[50]
- Winning Alliance Award: Presented to the alliance that wins the final match, comprising the alliance captain and partner who demonstrated top overall performance in playoffs.[50]
- Finalist Alliance Award: Given to the runner-up alliance in the final match, acknowledging strong strategic play and execution.[50]
Core Principles
Gracious Professionalism
Gracious Professionalism® is a foundational ethos of the FIRST organization, coined by Dr. Woodie Flowers, co-founder of FIRST and professor emeritus at MIT, to describe a way of competing intensely while upholding respect, empathy, and mutual support. It emphasizes performing high-quality work that values others, blending competition with kindness to create win-win outcomes where all participants feel respected and included.[54][55] In FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), this principle manifests in matches through rules that prohibit disabling or interfering with opponents' robots, such as jamming sensors or blocking views, ensuring fair play without aggressive tactics. It guides team interactions by promoting inclusive behavior and discouraging exclusion or uncivil conduct, while in outreach, teams demonstrate it by sharing resources like parts or expertise with rivals. Examples include assisting competing teams with on-site repairs or offering post-match congratulations to foster camaraderie. Violations, including harassment, bullying, or "weaponizing" accusations of poor conduct, can escalate to warnings, ejections, or disqualifications from matches and awards eligibility.[56][54] Introduced during FIRST's inaugural robotics competition in 1992, Gracious Professionalism was formalized as a code of conduct in the FTC program manual starting with its 2005 launch, integrating it into event rules and team expectations from the outset.[2][37] Its impact on participants is profound; FIRST's longitudinal studies show that alumni, including FTC veterans, frequently credit exposure to Gracious Professionalism for enhancing personal growth, leadership, and ethical conduct in professional and everyday life. It is particularly emphasized in judging for awards like the Motivate Award, which recognizes teams that inspire others through exemplary organization and positive contributions.[57][58]Coopertition and Community Impact
Coopertition in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) embodies the philosophy that teams should collaborate and assist one another even while competing directly on the field. This approach encourages participants to share technical strategies, spare parts, and knowledge during events, fostering mutual improvement across the community. For instance, during qualification matches, teams engage in alliance scouting to evaluate potential partners' strengths, enabling the formation of effective two-team alliances for playoffs that maximize collective performance. Additionally, teams often organize joint workshops or peer mentoring sessions outside of competitions to exchange insights on robot design and programming, enhancing overall program quality without compromising individual success.[59] Community outreach forms a core component of FTC participation, encouraging teams to undertake projects that extend STEM education and Gracious Professionalism principles into broader societal contexts. Teams typically plan and execute activities such as public robot demonstrations at schools, libraries, community events, or other venues; STEM workshops for local youth; mentoring other teams; open practices or scrimmages; and community service opportunities that promote STEM and FIRST. These efforts, documented in the team's engineering portfolio, not only fulfill award criteria but also develop students' communication, presentation, teamwork, and public speaking skills; build confidence; create networking opportunities; facilitate recruiting new members, mentors, and sponsors; increase awareness of STEM and robotics; strengthen team connections; support FIRST's mission; and contribute to awards such as the Connect Award. They integrate real-world applications of engineering ethics and innovation, promoting inclusivity and inspiring non-participants to pursue STEM fields.[60][61][20] As of the 2023-2024 season, the long-term impact of FTC on participants underscores its role in building diverse STEM pipelines, with research showing that 68% of alumni declare majors in engineering or computer science by their fourth year of college, compared to 29% in a matched comparison group. Programs like FTC particularly benefit underrepresented groups, as 51% of female alumni declare a major in engineering or computer science, compared to 16% of their peers, contributing to greater gender equity in STEM education. Overall, FTC reaches middle and high school students from varied backgrounds, emphasizing accessibility to cultivate a more inclusive workforce, with FIRST programs reaching over 785,000 students across 110 countries that season and continuing to grow. FIRST alumni, including those from FTC, have established notable legacies in technology and aerospace, applying skills honed through the program in mission-critical projects.[62][6][63] By prioritizing mid-school entry and lower-cost participation—such as kits under $5,000 compared to FRC's professional-scale resources—FTC differs from the FIRST Robotics Competition, offering greater accessibility for smaller or resource-limited teams while still delivering rigorous engineering experiences.[6][38][64]Seasonal Challenges
Overview of Themes
Each season of the FIRST Tech Challenge introduces a unique robotics game theme inspired by real-world applications, challenging teams to design, build, and program robots to address specific objectives within a timed match. These themes draw from diverse domains such as sports, exploration, logistics, and cultural heritage, fostering skills in engineering, coding, and teamwork while connecting to broader societal contexts. For instance, the 2024-2025 season's "Into the Deep" theme is inspired by ocean exploration and marine ecosystems, requiring robots to handle subsea-inspired tasks like sample collection and habitat maintenance, while the 2025-2026 "DECODE presented by RTX" theme revolves around decoding ancient artifacts to reveal hidden stories, emphasizing precision manipulation and pattern recognition.[3][3] The evolution of FTC themes reflects a progression from straightforward, game-like challenges in the program's early years—often modeled after sports or mechanical puzzles—to more narrative-driven scenarios in the 2010s and 2020s that tackle global issues like environmental sustainability, space missions, and historical preservation. Initial themes focused on physical interactions such as scoring and navigation in constrained environments, gradually incorporating elements of real-world problem-solving, such as rescue operations and resource management, to align with advancing educational objectives in STEM. This development has broadened the program's appeal, engaging larger audiences and promoting interdisciplinary learning.[65][66][67]| Season | Theme | Inspiration | Approximate Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-2006 | Half-Pipe Hustle | Skateboard ramp mechanics | 137 |
| 2006-2007 | Hangin'-A-Round | Hanging and elevation tasks | 5,500 |
| 2007-2008 | Quad Quandary | Quadrant strategy and mobility | - |
| 2008-2009 | Face Off | Competitive positioning | - |
| 2009-2010 | Hot Shot | Shooting and targeting | - |
| 2010-2011 | Get Over It | Obstacle traversal | - |
| 2011-2012 | Bowled Over | Bowling and stacking | - |
| 2012-2013 | Ring It Up | Ring capture and stacking | - |
| 2013-2014 | Block Party | Block sorting and delivery | - |
| 2014-2015 | Cascade Effect | Water flow and recycling | - |
| 2015-2016 | Res-Q | Emergency response | - |
| 2016-2017 | Velocity Vortex | Disc propulsion | - |
| 2017-2018 | Relic Recovery | Artifact excavation | - |
| 2018-2019 | Rover Ruckus | Planetary rover operations | - |
| 2019-2020 | Skystone | Foundation building | - |
| 2020-2021 | Ultimate Goal | Multi-sport scoring | - |
| 2021-2022 | Freight Frenzy | Supply chain logistics | - |
| 2022-2023 | Power Play | Electric hockey | 87,400 |
| 2023-2024 | Center Stage | Stage production | 99,000 |
| 2024-2025 | Into the Deep | Oceanographic research | - |
| 2025-2026 | DECODE | Artifact analysis | - |