FIRST Tech Challenge
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 four major robotics programs organized by FIRST, which its other three programs include FIRST Lego League Explore, FIRST Lego League Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition.
| Current season, competition or edition: 2023-2024 CENTERSTAGE | |
| Formerly | FIRST Vex Challenge |
|---|---|
| Sport | Robotics-related games |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Dean Kamen Woodie Flowers |
| Inaugural season | 2005 |
| Director | Rachel Moore |
| Country | International |
| Venue(s) | Houston, US (world level), numerous smaller locations (qualifier and regional levels) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Inspire Award Winner: 18438: Wolfpack Machina Championship Winning Alliance: 18457: GatorBytes 21229: Quality Control 14481: Don't Blink |
| TV partner(s) | NASA TV, Twitch |
| Related competitions | FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Lego League Challenge FIRST Lego League Explore |
| Official website | FTC |
The competition consists of local and regional qualifiers 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 qualifiers, and from that point, regional qualifiers 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, 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.