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Attention astronauts , we have an important update to the current mission at hand. The Dean�s List Award recognizes the leaders and ambassadors from each FIRST Tech Challenge Team. It awards the Captain Kirk�s in our world today. The Dean�s List Award first took off in 2010, when Dean Kamen himself realized that for FIRST to fulfill its mission of inspiring youth, he needed leaders that exemplify the core values of FIRST who could help spread the word and fuel the mission of FIRST . These leaders are the captains of their own destinies, ignoring the limitations set by space. They would consist of students already inspired by FIRST programs to make sure that generations to come are able to experience the positive impact of FIRST . As with the Dean�s List program that may already be in your school, the FIRST Dean�s List identifies the captains within FIRST who will fuel the mission we work to uphold. Each FIRST Tech Challenge team can nominate up to two students who are in the 10 th...

Before your team explores uncharted planets in ROVER RUCKUS presented by Qualcomm, explore practicing with field and scoring elements. This season�s FIRST� Tech Challenge field is out-of-this-world, and what better way to blast past other teams than practicing with precision on the field you'll be competing on! Here are some other reasons having your own ROVER RUCKUS presented by Qualcomm partial field will benefit your team:  Get hands-on experience with this season�s game elements This year�s game elements will look familiar to some of you. The gold cubes are from Block Party and the silver balls hail from Cascade Effect. Manipulating these objects depends on knowing their size and weight. How you collect these objects and load them onto the lander are up to you. If you don�t have these elements from prior seasons, you�ll need at least a few to design your bot. Program your robot to exact field specifications The playing field is 12 feet by 12 feet again this season. The cra...

Electrostatic discharge events (aka �ESD events�) have the potential to disrupt the normal operation of competition robot.   As a robot moves across the floor of a FIRST Tech Challenge field, the robot tends to accumulate positive electrostatic charge on its metallic frame due to a physical phenomenon known as the triboelectric effect .   The charge that builds up on the frame can be significant (on the order of 25kV or higher).   If the charged robot touches another conductive object (such as a metallic game element, the perimeter wall, or another robot) that is at a different electrostatic potential value, an electrostatic discharge can occur and current will flow from one conductive body to the other as the charges equilibrate. These ESD events can disrupt, or in rare cases, damage the Control System electronics on a competition robot.   Charge is transferred from wheel to floor due to the triboelectric effect. Electrostatic buildup is a problem in robotics compet...

It�s time to roll out our support for the FIRST Tech Challenge teams for the 2018-2019 school year.  Apply for sponsorship for your FIRST Tech Challenge team directly from SOLIDWORKS .  Last year, SOLIDWORKS sponsored the first FIRST Robotics Competition Regional in Istanbul, Turkey, and then attended the FIRST Championships.   In April, we were so excited to see hundreds of teams descended on Detroit, Michigan and Houston, Texas. Students from around the world competed in some of the most exciting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) events: The FIRST  Championships.  We visited with many FIRST Tech Challenge teams.  Team  4347 Nano Gurus impressed us with their robot design.  The Nano Gurus explained how they used SOLIDWORKS to create the models of their robot. We also met with international team 14183 from the Netherlands to talk about their 3D printed robot components. O ur support and celebration for FIRST teams continues,...

We live in a world full of problems. You see them every day in your communities, countries, and across the globe. The news feeds we all consume are built on highlighting problems. The most common reactions to these problems? Complaining, blaming others, and calling for change, and it can become overwhelming. How do we address this? Romania FIRST Tech Challenge, led by Natie Prin Educatie Association, McCann Worldgroup Romania and Momentum Romania have an inspiring answer. Romania is a wonderful country with a compelling history. They�ve experienced a great deal of change over the last 50 years. For their economy to succeed, they need to attract business, both   at home and abroad. The most important part of successful business is a talented workforce, which. allows businesses to grow, creates good careers,, and lifts the economy. In Romania 72% of businesses report an issue with filling job openings, and 34% of employers blame the lack of hands-on, practical skills. While these cha...

The Game Manual Part 1 has been officially released! For those of you new to our community, the Game Manual Part 1 will guide you through all aspects of what to expect at a FIRST Tech Challenge tournament. This manual will also explain the rules and regulations when building your robot for the upcoming season. For returning teams, there are new robot construction rule updates, so be sure to read the rules carefully before designing and building your bot! Now for the fun! We�re sure, much like us, you�ve had this day marked on your calendars for quite some time. By now you have probably read through the entire manual front to back with excitement and enthusiasm, you must have noticed something special! That�s right, we�ve included a game hint in the Game Manual Part 1! The Team Marker is a new, game specific scoring element that will be used in the ROVER RUCKUS SM Presented by Qualcomm� game. A scoring element is defined as objects that robots manipulate to earn points. Each team will...

We know there's a lot to think about when you're getting started with FIRST Tech Challenge. So we wanted to start you off with some of our general building best practices so that you have a couple specific things to think about when you start building your robot.  �         Design to facilitate easy repair. Make sure that every part is accessible and easy to fix for quick and painless pit repair. �          Build the robot for competition. Consider the outcome of different types of collisions and add guards and bumpers in the design to minimize impact. Protect wires and position motors so that the end of the wire is inside the robot body. �         As screws, nuts, and washers are removed from the robot or from early prototypes, check them for damage and discard or mark parts that are no longer perfect. �         Keep drive wheels symmetrical. Asymmetrical wheels will ...