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Awards

Inspire Award

The Inspire Award recognizes a team that is exceptional in robot design, documentation, Gracious Professionalism, and outreach. It is the highest honor a team can earn in the FIRST Tech Challenge.

Tips to Help Win Inspire

  • Submit a professional, compelling and complete engineering portfolio.
  • Highlight your outreach and impact in the general and FTC community.
  • Show strong engineering problem-solving and iteration.
  • Prepare your team for an engaging judging interview, both in the room, and the pit.

Think Award

The Think Award recognizes a strong engineering process. It includes documentation, iteration, testing and technical solutions.

Tips to Help Win the Think Award

  • Document your engineering process prior to judging.
  • Show how decisions were made, tested, and refined.
  • Include clear visuals, such as sketches, CAD models, and test results.

Connect Award

The Connect Award recognizes your team's connection with the STEM and engineering community, which includes professionals, mentors and organizations. The Connect Award shows your team's presence and professionalism outside of FTC and in the broader STEM ecosystem.

Tips to Help Win the Connect Award

  • Highlight partnerships with outside entities, such as schools, companies and mentors.
  • Demonstrate career exploration and community involvement.

Innovate Award

The Innovate Award recognizes unique and creative technical innovations, such as new mechanisms. It rewards teams that create unique solutions and push technical boundaries.

Tips to Help Win the Innovate Award

  • Highlight one or more original subsystems or mechanisms that are unique to your robot.
  • Show the inspiration, design process, and functionality for any unique subsystems or parts.
  • Use CAD or prototype images in the engineering portfolio.

Control Award

The Control Award recognizes excellence in robot control, sensor integration, and consistent performance.

Tips to Help Win the Control Award

  • Document code structure, sensor use, and strategic algorithms.
  • Show how your software assists the drivers during TeleOp.
  • Provide annotated code snippets or flowcharts.

Motivate Award

The Motivate Award recognizes teams that actively promotes FIRST, and recruits new participants into STEM.

Tips to Help Win the Motivate Award

  • Maintain a strong public presence, such as through social media and events.
  • Showcase your team's outreach and recruitment efforts during your interviews and on your engineering portfolio.

Design Award

The Design Award focuses on the form of the form vs. function. It recognizes how organized, maintainable and aesthetically pleasing your robot is.

Tips to Help Win the Design Award

  • Show a variety of CAD renders, such as exploded views, high-quality renders, and annotated CAD screenshots.
  • Don't let the robot become a jumble of wires. Instead, use cable management tools to make the robot cleaner and more organized. Remember, the form of your robot is being judged for the design award.

Promote Award

Info

This award may not be given at all tournaments.

Compass Award

Info

This award may not be given at all tournaments.

Judges' Choice Award

Info

This award may not be given at all tournaments.

Winning Alliance Award

This award is given to the teams in the final match's winning alliance.

Finalist Alliance Award

This award is given to the teams in the alliances represented in the final match.

Warning

Some events do not advance all finalist alliances, and will only advance the winning alliance. Consult the game manual for more information about advancement for your upcoming events.