Full Details of Star Wars-Inspired Challenge Unveiled to Nearly 100,000 High School Students Worldwide at the 2020 FIRST^® Robotics Competition Season Kickoff

• Sen. Maggie Hassan, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Inventor Dean Kamen encouraged students to build a better future for themselves and others
• Nearly 30,000 STEM professionals, educators, and others to mentor students in 34 countries

MANCHESTER, N.H. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 4, 2020 — FIRST^®, a robotics community that prepares young people for the future, launched the 2020 FIRST^® Robotics Competition season today with the Kickoff of a new robotics game called INFINITE RECHARGE^SM before a crowd of 1,200 people, including Sen. Maggie Hassan, D.-N.H., U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D.-N.H., and Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, D.-N.H., at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, hometown of FIRST HQ. Nearly 100,000 high-school students on 3,898 teams at 160 venues around the world joined the 2020 Kickoff via live broadcast.

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Today at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., FIRST unveiled the game field for INFINITE RECHARGE, a new robotics game part of the FIRST RISE, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change, season. (Photo: Business Wire)

Larry Cohen, president of FIRST, encouraged students to innovate and have fun: “I hope you tackle this season by working together to explore new ideas, to be innovative and inclusive, to strive to make an impact, and – of course – to have fun. I know you’ll rise to the challenge. What you learn in FIRST will make you better prepared for the future and enable you to solve our toughest challenges.”

INFINITE RECHARGE is part of the 2020 FIRST season, FIRST RISE, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change. FIRST has teamed up with Lucasfilm and parent company Disney as part of the Star Wars: Force for Change philanthropic initiative to inspire the next generation of heroes and innovators, creating a place where collaboration and collective wisdom can elevate new ideas and foster growth. FIRST RISE empowers FIRST participants to explore the future of cities and architecture, building communities filled with inspiration, creativity, and – most importantly – hope.

In INFINITE RECHARGE, two alliances work to protect FIRST City from approaching asteroids caused by a distant space skirmish. Each alliance, along with their trusty droids, race to collect and score Power Cells in order to energize their Shield Generator for maximum protection. To activate sections of the Shield Generator, droids manipulate their Control Panels after scoring a specific number of Power Cells. Near the end of the match, droids race to their Rendezvous Point to get their Shield Generator operational in order to protect the city.

At today’s Kickoff, teams were shown the INFINITE RECHARGE game field and challenge details for the first time and received the Kickoff Kit from the Kit of Parts, which is made up of motors, batteries, control system components, construction materials, and a mix of additional automation components – with limited instructions.

“I applaud all the students participating in this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition season, and thank you to all the teachers, administrators, mentors, and volunteers who support FIRST Robotics Competition,” said Senator Hassan. “Not only does FIRST play an important role in helping students to build a strong foundation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, it also critically teaches young people to compete with ‘Gracious Professionalism’ and prioritizes teamwork and collaboration. The entire state of New Hampshire will be stronger because of the efforts and success of FIRST programs, and I will keep working to support FIRST in the United States Senate.”

Working with adult mentors, students have limited time to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge. Once these young inventors build a robot, their teams will participate beginning in late February in one or more of the global 173 Regional and District events that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students.

By participating in FIRST, students gain confidence to explore the innovation process while learning valuable science, engineering, technology, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. FIRST Robotics Competition participants are eligible to apply for more than $80 million in FIRST Scholarships from colleges, universities, and technical programs. Students also learn and apply the FIRST ethos of Gracious Professionalism^® via a signature set of FIRST Core Values.

The 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff event is an opportunity for teams from all over the world to come together as a community to share in the excitement of seeing the new game unveiled. Teams at nearly 160 Kickoff sites in countries all over the world such as Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States watched the proceedings via live broadcast.

For more information about FIRST RISE, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change, visit firstinspires.org/first-rise-2020.

To find FIRST Robotics Competition events and/or teams in your area, visit http://www.firstinspires.org/team-event-search.

About FIRST^®

FIRST^® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. An international not-for-profit organization founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Boosted by a global support system of mentors, coaches, volunteers, alumni, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operating under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, and build robots, then compete and celebrate at local, regional, and international events. High school students are eligible for more than $80 million in college scholarships. Learn more at firstinspires.org.

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Haley Morse
media@firstinspires.org
(603) 666-3906