FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) is one of the world’s largest robotics competitions, organized by FIRST, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization. Every year, tens of thousands of young people participate in the program. FIRST’s overarching goal is to promote STEM education and to nurture individuals who can contribute to the advancement of science and technology, including robotics.

In FTC, students work alongside professional engineers to design, build, and program a robot over a 15-week period. They then compete with their robot in an annual international competition.

Each year in September, a new game challenge is released in which robots compete to complete specific tasks. Because the challenge changes every year, the required robot functions also vary from season to season.

After advancing through regional competitions held from November to January, the World Championship takes place in April in Houston, Texas, USA. Many teams from Japan participate in the Korea Regional as their qualifying event.

The period from September to January is dedicated to building robots in preparation for competition and is known as the Building Season. The robots built during this time measure approximately 45 cm × 45 cm × 45 cm.

During matches, two teams compete against two teams. Since alliance partners change from match to match, teams must develop strategies with different partners each time. This requires teams to compensate for one another’s weaknesses while leveraging their strengths, fostering deeper collaboration and interaction among teams.

Scene from the Tournament

You can view scenes from past competitions in the video below.