From grades K-12, kids of all ages will descend on Avenida Houston for the FIRST Robotics Championship. With students from around the world participating, the organization generates STEM-themed excitement through robotics, human-animal interaction improvements and more. Many FIRST events are open to the public and run through Saturday, April 22nd with closing ceremonies at Minute Maid Park. 

Happenings:

  • FIRST Lego League Jr. - Capturing young curiosity by exploring real-world scientific challenges, learning teamwork and working with motorized LEGO elements. Grades K-4
  • FIRST Lego League - Elementary and middle school-aged students research a real-world engineering challenge, develop a solution and complete with LEGO-based robots of their own design. Grades 4-8
  • FIRST Tech Challenge - Teams of middle and high school-aged students are challenged to design, build, and program a robot to play a floor game against other teams' creations. Grades 7-12
  • FIRST Robotics Competition - High school-aged teams compete head-to-head on a special playing field with robots they have designed, built and programmed. 

On Level 1, Halls A-E, high school students from 400 international teams will be competing on the custom playing fields in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The area will also house the Pits; where you can see teams working together to build and repair their creations. 

Level 3 will include the Tech Challenge and Lego Leagues, where even more teams will be working together to solve real-world problems. The General Assembly will house award ceremonies for the Lego Leagues and various Championship Conferences, while The Grand Ballroom will host the FIRST Innovation Fare; a hands-on Maker Faire-inspired area featuring sponsors, suppliers and more. 

Discovery Green will host the Welcome Party for FIRST attendees with credentials, while Minute Maid Park will host the closing celebration on Saturday, April 22nd. 

If you are interested in coming down to experience the technology of tomorrow, you can find more about parking on our Transportation page. Please note that the Avenida de las Americas street in front of the GRB is closed to traffic. Can't make it down? Watch it live here.