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Ohio FIRST ® Tech Challenge
How to Form a FIRST Tech Challenge Team
Registration:
Registration for the 2015-2016 FIRST Tech Challenge season officially opened at 12:00 noon on
Wednesday, May 13, 2015! Register your FTC team here!
Team Composition:
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Teams consist of between three and fifteen students, ages of 13 to 18.
Can be school (public, private and home), churches, scout or club groups or neighborhood teams.
Costs Involved:
Costs for first year teams may be between $1750 - $3000. Subsequent years can be as low as $500.
The following sample budget is for a new team, purchasing one FTC competition kit and participating in
one event. Team may choose to purchase additional parts and/or participate in multiple events, so fees
would vary accordingly. Travel costs will vary due to the distance and time needed to travel to an event.
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Sample 1 Year Budget (based on new Android-based platform):
 FTC registration fee - $275
 FTC TETRIX Competition Set and Control and
 Communication kit - includes 2 Android devices,
Electronic Modules & Sensors Set - $1270 (1-time cost)
 FTC OH Qualifier registration fee - $100
 FTC OH Championship fee (if team advances) $250
 ½ practice field (optional) $300
 Travel costs (optional)- $0 - $500
 Team T-shirts (optional) - $0 - 150
 Additional field & kit items (optional) - $0 - $250
Funding a team:
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Some grants are available for needs-based or underserved teams and for rookie teams. Due to the
new platform, rookie team grants of $575 and veteran team grants of $275 are available through
FIRST. Schools can also apply for grants to foundations that have a history of supporting robotics.
iSPACE has some additional funding available.
Teams can ask businesses or civic organizations to sponsor them
Teams can conduct mini-fundraisers (car wash, bake sale, etc.).
When you apply:
As soon as your team forms and registers, begin practicing building techniques and learning the
programming software. Attend the FTC OH Kick-Off on September 12, as FIRST reveals the 2015-16
FTC challenge. Start working on the challenge. The FTC OH Championship is February 13, 2016.
FTC OH has a qualifying system whereby teams must compete in one of six qualifying tournaments to
advance to the FTC OH Championship. Qualifiers will be in January 2016. Register for one of those
tournaments. Approximately 1/6 of the teams competing in qualifiers will advance.
FTC is a team sport!
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is designed for those who want to compete head-to head, using a sports
model. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an
alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using
a variety of languages. Teams are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound
engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as for well as for community outreach,
design, and other real-world accomplishments.
For more information, go to http://ispacescience.org/programs/first-robotics/#FTC or call 513-612-5786