Programs Supported

FIRST® LEGO® League introduces STEM to children ages 4-14 through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. FIRST LEGO League’s three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

FIRST® Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams design, build, and program robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. Robots are built from a reusable platform, powered by android technology, and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming.

FIRST® Robotics Competition teams design, program, and build a robot starting with a standard kit of parts and common set of rules to play in a themed head-to-head challenge. Teams also build a brand, develop community partnerships for support, and work to promote STEM in their local community.

A plastic based robotics platform with snap-together pieces. The matches occur on a 6’x8’ rectangular field. Two (2) robots compete in the Teamwork Challenge as an alliance in 60-second-long teamwork matches, working collaboratively to score points. Teams also compete in the Robot Skills Challenge where one robot takes the field to score as many points as possible. These matches consist of Driving Skills Matches, which are entirely driver controlled, and Programming Skills Matches, which are autonomous with limited human interaction.

A metal-based robotics platform with bolt-together pieces that are machinable to create any mechanism. The matches occur on a 12’x12’ square field. Two (2) Alliances, composed of two (2) Teams each, compete in matches consisting of an Autonomous Period followed by a Driver Controlled Period. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance. Teams also compete in the Robot Skills Challenge where one robot takes the field to score as many points as possible. These matches consist of Driving Skills Matches, which are entirely driver controlled, and Programming Skills Matches, which are autonomous with no human interaction.

National Underwater Robotics Challenge (NURC) is a remotely controlled underwater robotics competition. It is an extracurricular science, technology, engineering and math program. The competition emphasizes real-world hands-on activities that motivate students to take on tough challenges in a fun and exciting way. It is a catalyst for inspiration in young people.