Congratulations to our FIRST® Tech Challenge World Championship Teams!
Congratulations to all of our amazing FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship teams! This year’s event was bigger and better than ever before and all 192 of our competing teams were incredible. Check out our press release for a list of our award winners!
FIRST® Dashboard Maintenance May 8-17
From May 8-17 the FIRST Dashboard will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. During this time, you will not have access to your team roster or FIRST Account. If you will need to reference your roster, we recommend that you print your team roster prior to May 8.
Gaffers Tape Change
Starting in the 2023-2024 season, FIRST Tech Challenge has made the decision to switch from using 2-inch gaffers tape to 1-inch gaffers tape on the playing field for official tournaments. We feel this will be a significant cost savings to teams and program delivery partners going forward.
Program Delivery Partners and event hosts will need to purchase 1-inch gaffers tape for playing field tape lines starting in the 2023-2024 season. Program Delivery Partners and event hosts can still utilize the 2-inch gaffers tape to create alliance stations. Specs will be provided in the field setup and assembly guide released in September 2023.
Off-Season Event Guide
Interested in hosting an off-season event? Check out our Off-Season Event Guide.
ML-Toolchain Update Reminder
The FIRST Tech Challenge Machine Learning Toolchain, https://ftc-ml.firstinspires.org, was shut down for the season on Monday, April 24. All account access is now unavailable and all uploaded and generated data in team accounts will be deleted. This tool will reopen in mid-September, shortly after the 2023-2024 season kickoff.
2023 National Advocacy Conference (United States)
Help make an impact on STEM policy for teams across the country. Join the Student Association for STEM Advocacy for the 2023 National Advocacy Conference June 25-27 in Washington, D.C., to educate your elected officials on the importance of robotics. There is a day and a half of provided training, followed by meetings with your members of Congress, giving you the opportunity to build relationships with those who directly set U.S. STEM and robotics policies. Register by May 13 to lock in the current price. Registering early will ensure your state is represented and your team can schedule the best meetings possible. Find more information and register at mysasa.org/nac or by emailing staff@mysasa.org.
FIRST & U.S. Air Force Leadership Experience
The FIRST & U.S. Air Force Leadership Experience is back for the 11th year! This summer, the U.S. Air Force will be hosting 24 lucky FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition Mentors & Coaches (must be a K-12 teacher within the continental USA) at Patrick Air Force Base in FL for a 3-day, 4-night all-expenses paid trip filled with leadership training, guest speakers, and amazing tours. If you’re interested, please submit an application by Friday, May 19, 2023, for consideration.
AndyMark Game Set Orders
We’d like to share some exciting news on the options for teams to purchase FIRST Tech Challenge game sets for the 2023-2024 season.
FIRST Tech Challenge Storefront – US Teams Only (excludes Hawaii and Alaska)
On Saturday, 9-September-2023 at 12:00pm eastern time, AndyMark game sets will be available for purchase through the FIRST Tech Challenge storefront. This means that teams will be able to use 2023-2024 season grant funding to purchase their game sets!
AndyMark Pre-orders – North America and International
On Thursday, 4-May-2023 at 12:00pm eastern, AndyMark game sets will be available for purchase through the AndyMark website. This is a great option for teams to utilize remaining funding in the current 2022-2023 fiscal year.
Please note that grant money secured through FIRST cannot be used through the AndyMark website. Teams wishing to use their grant money secured with FIRST must use the storefront when purchasing opens in September 2023.
Please see our latest blog for pricing and ordering instructions.
