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.”.
2024 FRC Game: CRESCENDO
CRESCENDO is the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) game for the 2024 season.
The game is inspired by the arts as part of the FIRST-wide FIRST Create theme for
2023-2024.
CRESCENDO is played by two alliances of three teams each, with each team operating a robot
and
performing specific tasks in order to score points. The game involves both alliances placing
musical notes on their “field” and activating sound effects on their “stage.” The ultimate
goal
of each match is to score more points than the opposing alliance before the match ends.
