To LEGO, and beyond! Over 1,200 students compete in California FIRST robotics challenge DECODE

Over 115 California high school engineering teams gathered at La Cañada High School for the FIRST Tech Challenge DECODE season kickoff on September 6, drawing more than 1,200 participants and family members. The event launched this year’s robotics competition, where students design and build robots to compete in challenges that prepare them for STEM careers through hands-on engineering experience.

What you should know: FIRST Tech Challenge is a global nonprofit program that engages students ages 4-18 in team-based robotics competitions designed to build future-ready skills.

• Teams work with mentors throughout the year to design, build, and program robots for competition.
• The program serves as a pipeline, with students potentially advancing from LEGO robotics to more complex challenges as they progress.

This year’s challenge: DECODE requires robots to collect spherical “artifacts,” launch them into goals, and organize them into “classifiers” based on decoding an obelisk during matches.

• Robots must stay within strict 18 x 18 x 18 inch size limits for most of the match.
• Teams face the additional challenge of launching game pieces across the field.
• The endgame requires two robots to squeeze into a single 18 x 18 inch square during the final 30 seconds.

Beyond the competition: The kickoff featured 13 workshops covering design for manufacturing, scoring strategies, and tournament management.

• Students could examine an advanced FRC robot from Falkon Robotics at Crescenta Valley High School, showing the next level of competition.
• Referees held Q&A sessions in the North Gym to clarify rules and tournament procedures.
• Studica Robotics sponsored giveaways including motors, servo hubs, and merchandise.

Why this matters: Programs like FIRST Tech Challenge address the growing need for STEM education by providing practical engineering experience that traditional classroom learning often lacks, helping bridge the skills gap in technology fields.