Nashoba Robotics

Every year, in early January, the FIRST Robotics organization releases that year’s robotics challenge to hundreds of high school teams. This challenge varies widely from year to year, so that students will have the opportunity to explore all different aspects of robotic technology. Beginning in January, teams have six weeks to design and build a fully working robot to complete tasks outlined in the challenge. This time period is generally referred to as the “build season.”

FIRST encourages professional adult engineers to become involved with high school programs as mentors. During the build season, these adults often help students learn the technical aspects of what they are trying to accomplish. After the six weeks is over, the robot is packaged up to await the competition date.

FIRST Robotics runs nearly 40 regional competitions each year. Locally, there are many District competitions within New England. In each competition, robots face off in a test of man and machine to see which team is most capable of completing the FIRST challenge. After 1.5 days’ worth of nearly continuous matches between randomly selected alliances, the top eight winning teams each draft two additional teams to round out their alliance as they move into the elimination rounds to compete together. In the New England District, teams compete to earn ranking points at two qualifying District Events, to be invited to compete at the next level, the New England District Championships. The top-performing teams at the District Championships may qualify to continue competing at the highest levels at the FIRST Championship Competition. FIRST robotics events foster a sense of competition and excitement among team members. The drive to perform well at the competition helps to motivate learning and creativity throughout the rest of the year.