The Competition

FIRST Robotics Competitions

"It's like life. There's never enough information. Never enough time. There's always competition and you need a strategy. We've created a microcosm of the real engineering experience." Said by FIRST Robotics Competition Co-Founder and MIT Professor Woodie Flowers.

How It Works - Excerpts taken from official FIRST documents

This unique varsity sport of the mind is played by remote-controlled robots. The robots are designed and built in six weeks by a team of high-school aged young people with guidance from engineer-mentors. Each team creates its own custom designed robot from a kit of basic parts to meet an engineering challenge. The students pilot the robots on the field. Each school year, teams are formed in the fall. Competitions take place in March and April. The FIRST Robotics Competition Regional events are typically held in university arenas. They involve 40 to 70 teams cheered by thousands of fans over two and a half days. A championship event caps the season. Referees oversee the competition. Judges present awards to teams for design, technology, sportsmanship and commitment to FIRST. The Chairman's Award is FIRST's highest honor. MARS won the Chairman's award at the 2008 FL Regional.

Specific Competition Information

MARS attends the Florida Regional Competition, held at the University of Central Florida Arena in Orlando. Each year in early March over fifty high school FIRST teams compete. Visit their web-site at http://www.floridafirstregional.com/ .

The Championship Competition, held in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, occurs in April each year. 2006 marked MARS first time participating. For more specifics check out details at http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=432&menu_id=80 .

2009 FIRST Robotics Competition At-A-Glance

The Basics
1,686 teams (as of 1/02/09)
42,150 high-school students
18,242 mentors (14 mentors/team)
3,700 other volunteers
50 states
Teams From the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K

Events
40 Regional events in the U.S., Canada, and Israel; seven District competitions and one State Championship in Michigan
1 Championship at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta

Robot Facts
Max. weight: 120 lbs (not including battery)
Max. dimensions: 28" W x 38" L x 72" H
No additional energy sources, motors or compressors are allowed

Kit Facts
69 suppliers
396 parts per kit
71% of parts are donated

Field Fact
Playing area: 26'8" W x 54' L

Fun Facts
3,500+ sponsors
Over $9 million in Scholarships
106 tons of material
16.5 tons of batteries
5 miles of #6 wire
14,300 motors
18,400 ball bearings
Over 28 miles of pneumatic tubing
40,200 medallions and 962 trophies to be distributed at Regional Events

Team Registration Costs
Participation in one Regional Event, the kit of associated materials and support: $6,000.
Participation for each additional Regional Event: $4,000.
Participation in the Championship Event: $5,000.
Additional costs involved: Materials not included in the kit, machining of parts, tools, team uniforms, banners, food, hotel and travel expenses.
Involvement in the FIRST experience: Priceless!