The 2024 FIRST Championship robotics competition is in Houston
Tens of thousands have descended on the George R. Brown Convention Center this week in one of the biggest youth robotics competitions in the world.
More than 600 robotics teams from countries like Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Czech Republic are taking part in the 2024 FIRST Championship. Students as young as kindergartners can get involved in events, exploring information on science and robotics with a team and a motorized LEGO model.
The FIRST LEGO League, which has three divisions, is meant to introduce STEM topics to children, with each league being more advanced. Children between the ages of 9 and 16 can build and program their own LEGO robot that navigates its own robot game. The challenge also asks participants to research and find a real-world problem.
The FIRST Tech Challenge asks students, usually between 7th and 12th grade, to think like engineers by building and programming robots to compete in “an alliance format” against others using Java-based programming.
Older students between 9th and 12th grade are tasked with building their industrial-sized robots with limited time and resources to compete against others in a field game as part of the FIRST Robotics Competition, also called “the ultimate sport for the mind.” The robots can be up to 125 lbs and powered by a 12 volt battery.
FIRST, an international not-for-profit organization, has been around since 1989, working to inspire interest in STEM topics among children and build a robotics community through education.
