FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) is for students in Grades 9-12 who want to participate in engineering competitions, design and build robots, work as a team, and learn to act with “gracious professionalism.” FTC offers the next level of “coopertition” and is closely related to the skills experienced during participation in FLL (FIRST LEGO^® League), the FIRST robotics competition for students in Grades 4-8.

If you were already on an FLL team, then you have all the skills needed to move on to this next level of FIRST robotics. Your FLL experience with basic engineering principles, teamwork, programming a robot using NXT-G, keeping an engineering notebook, and many other life skills will all serve as your springboard into FTC.

Though some FLL teams do graduate to FTC, this is not a requirement. For many teams competing in FTC this season, this will be their initial experience with FIRST robotics competitions. Regardless, when you participate in FTC, you will experience all the great things about FIRST, including having access to scholarship opportunities, meeting great people, and having fun.

Teams competing in FTC are also able to continue their progression by moving into FRC (FIRST Robotics Challenge), the highest level of competitive robotics the FIRST organization has to offer.