FIRST robotics

FIRST Robotics is an organisation in the US, Canada, the UK, and many other countries. It is a group of school teams, usually high school based. These high school teams compete in robotics, using engineering, coding, and mechanics. The coding, for example is done is in PBASIC

Much of what the team does is student driven, but the robots are usually externally funded. The initative is supposed to be the student's, but much is actually done by the adult members.

That is a sad fact of bureacracy. The organisation was founded by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the human transporter. The goal is "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology"

Another goal is to inspire young people work in industry and technology.

For more info, see www.usfirst.org

FIRST Robotics is an international organization that organizes robotics competitions for students. It aims to prepare students for a future in STEM (read: mostly engineering) by building resilience and teaching technical skills. It's also a really convenient funnel into the military-industrial complex, but honestly what engineering program isn't?

It was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen with only 1 program: the FIRST Robotics Competition (also known as FRC, grades 9-12). FRC remains FIRST's most popular program, though it has expanded and now also hosts the FIRST Tech Challenge (aka FTC, grades 7-12) and the FIRST Lego League (aka FLL, ages 4-16).

Though I personally cannot speak to the quality of FTC and FLL, I was very pleased with my experience on my local FRC team. It was a fun way to bond with like-minded people and learn more about how engineering actually works.