FIRST Tech Challenge
Current season, competition or edition: FIRST Velocity Vortex
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| Formerly | FIRST Vex Challenge |
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| Sport | Robotics-related games |
| Founder | Dean Kamen & Woodie Flowers |
| Inaugural season | 2005 |
| Country | International |
| Venue(s) | Union Station in St. Louis (world level), numerous smaller locations (state level) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Inspire Award Winner: 7013: Hot WiredChampion Teams: 5916: The BoBots 8221: Cubix3 6022: To Be Determined
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| TV partner(s) | NASA TV |
| Related competitions |
FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Lego League FIRST Lego League Jr. |
| Official website | FTC |
The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is designed for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, using a sports model. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots in a 10-week build period to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using Java or the MIT App Inventor. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments. The ultimate goal of FTC is to reach more young people with a lower-cost, more accessible opportunity to discover the excitement and rewards of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
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. 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. Using aluminum parts that will allow participants to add Lego parts and sensors, the kit includes 4 DC motors and larger wheels. In addition to hardware changes, the system was programmed with LabVIEW or RobotC.
In 2005–06, FIRST piloted the FIRST Vex Challenge as a potential program. The pilot season brought together over 130 teams to compete in 6 regional tournaments in a 1/3 scale FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar. 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 the FIRST Tech Challenge.
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