Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, FIRST, which stands for “For the Inspiration
and Recognition of
Science and Technology,”
is the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education. The FIRST Robotics
Competition is structured as
an international robotics competition, teams of high school students, mentors, and coaches work
during an intensive
6-week period to design, build, and program their own industrial-sized 120-pound robots to
compete
in unique game-based
engineering challenges starting in January.
The FIRST Robotics Competition embodies 2 main values, “Gracious Professionalism” and
“Coopertition.”
“Gracious Professionalism” is an ideal that encourages high-quality work and respect of others
and
the community. It
blends knowledge, competition, and empathy.
“Coopertition” blends the notions of both cooperation and competition. It is displaying
unqualified
kindness and respect
even in the face of intense competition.
FIRST's Vision
“FIRST is More Than Robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn
important life skills. Kids often come in not
knowing what to expect – of the program nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first
season, with a vision, with
confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future.”.
2025 FRC Game: Reefscape
The game presented to us in 2025 is Reefscape. In Reefscape robots collect and score coral and algae to earn points. Coral can be placed on a robot at the start of the match and is then collected from the coral selection zone. Coral can be placed on the reef, at different layers to score points with the highest levels scoring the most points. Algae starts on the reef, at the start of the math, and can be placed in the processor or shot in the net, in order to earn points. At the end of the match, robots can choose to park, climb a shalow cage, or climb a deep cage, depending on which is done, points are awarded to each team.
