What's FIRST?
FIRST, an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, was founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989. FIRST's main goal is to inspire students in the field of engineering and technology.
Now there are four branches of FIRST:
- "FIRST Robotics Competition" or FRC for high-school students
- "FIRST Tech Challenge" or FTC with TETRIX parts for middle-school students and beginner high-school students
- "FIRST Lego League" or FLL with the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform for students in Jr. High or middle school
- "Junior FIRST Lego League" or JFLL, which is for elementary school students.
FIRST also promotes a term called "Gracious Professionalism", coined by Woodie Flowers, which encourages good sportsmanship and a professional environment.
FRC at a Glance
FRC is the FIRST Robotics Competition in robotics design and innovation for high school students across the country, as well as internationally. Short for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology", the FIRST competition entails working together as a team to construct robots that can overcome the myriad of obstacles placed before them, and succeed. Teams independently design and build robots to compete in events across the country. The purpose of the FIRST competition is to give students practical experience in engineering and design, as well as an opportunity to work collaboratively with, and learn from, professional engineers.
Every team is provided a standard kit of parts, and given six weeks in which to design and construct their robot from the ground up. Students must learn to organize their time, and manage their teams, to effectively accomplish the goals. In order to succeed the team must operate as efficiently as the machine they are creating. They must ensure that they will have enough time alotted within the six week build period to design, fabricate, program, and test the robot, then debug and solve any problems that may arise.
A central part of FIRST, and the long-standing motto, is the idea of "Gracious Professionalism". FIRST operates by means of students helping students so that they may all succeed. Before, during, and after competitions teams collaborate to solve issues and share trade secrets, allowing students to gain an invaluable education. Scholarships are available for participating students in their graduating year from a large, diverse assortment of colleges.
Montclair Robotics, Team 555, has been participating in FIRST for 9 years to date.