FIRST Robotics Competition (ages 14-18)
The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is the premier engineering challenge for high school students. Teams of students, working closely with teachers and volunteer mentors, have six weeks to conceptualize, design, build, program, modify and test a robot to participate in a competition that changes each year. If you are interested in starting an FRC team, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Every January, FIRST unveils the competition or “game” at an annual kick-off event that is simulcast to locations around the world. Teams receive a “kit” of common parts that are used to build the core systems of the robot, but they won’t find an instruction manual! Students work with hundreds of components, including engineering mainstays such as programmable radio controllers, motors, electrical circuitry and mechanical parts. Following the six-week design and build phase, teams enter one of 40 regional competitions, including the Virginia Regional held annually in Richmond, VA.
The season culminated with the FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta from April 14-17, 2010, a three-day event attended by more than 20,000 students, families and friends.
Learn more at FIRST Robotics Competition.