got robot? was founded in Elgin, Illinois in 2008. Our mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM fields by providing hands-on experience in robot design, programming, and engineering. Over the years, we have competed in various First Tech Challenge (FTC) competitions, consistently ranking highly and earning numerous awards. In addition to competition, we also participate in outreach events to promote STEM education in the community. Our team is made up of students aged 13-17 from multiple schools and homeschool organizations within and around the Elgin area with dedicated mentors and coaches.
got robot?
Building Teamwork, Character, and Robots. In that order.
The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a robotics competition for middle and high school students. The program was founded by Dean Kamen, an inventor, entrepreneur, and advocate for STEM education.
FTC teams are challenged to design, build, and program robots to compete in an exciting game that changes every year. While the project is centered on the robot, the overall mission of FTC is to inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through a competitive program that emphasizes innovation, teamwork, and a philosophy of “gracious professionalism” - competing with a sense of mutual respect, while still striving to win.
For more information, you can visit the FIRST Tech Challenge website!
FIRST Tech Challenge
The 2024 FTC game is CENTERSTAGE, presented by Raytheon Technologies. The CENTERSTAGE challenge features game elements including Pixels, Drones, Alliance Wings, and Backdrops, all of which the robots must interact with. At the start of the match, teams are paired off in alliances and each robot begins against their alliance wall. Robots are pre-loaded with one or two pixels and the match begins.
Each match begins with a thirty-second autonomous period, during which the robots attempt to score points without any player interactions. The autonomous period is followed by a two minute driver-controlled period where teams race to place pixels and create mosaics on the backdrop. During the last thirty seconds of the match, called the end game, teams continue to score cones and have the opportunity to launch their drone and either park in their alliance's backstage or hang their robot on the truss for extra points.