Robotics

Piedmont Makers organizes FIRST Robotics teams and hosts tournaments for Piedmont and the broader East Bay community. This includes FIRST LEGO League Explore teams for rising K through 3rd graders, FIRST Lego League Challenge teams for rising 4th through 8th graders, FIRST Tech Challenge teams for 7th through 12th graders, and a FIRST Robotics Competition team for 9th through 12th graders.

In the 2023-2024 season, Piedmont Makers is organizing 76 robotics teams with 530+ students across all four levels of FIRST, making it the largest community robotics league in the United States.

Piedmont Makers robotics teams are open to all interested families, not just Piedmont residents or Piedmont USD students. Financial aid is available upon request.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR PARENTS: We are a 100% parent volunteer run & coached league. This year, in an effort to ensure sustainable growth and full support for every team, we are asking for your help to pre-form teams and increase the number of coach volunteers. During registration, preference will be given to pre-formed teams with coaches assigned—whether new or returning teams. We strongly encourage you to work with your friend groups to assemble teams before you register so that you have more control over your team composition and support network. If you are new to robotics, and want to help coach but don’t have a team, you can indicate your desire to coach during registration and we’ll help assemble a team for you. Any other participants will be placed on a waitlist and only be placed on a team as space, and confirmed coaches, allow.

Questions? Or to inquire about our waitlist for the 2023-2024 season, please email robotics@piedmontmakers.org

Open House Presentations:

FIRST LEGO League Explore

FIRST LEGO League Explore (K-3rd grade) is designed to introduce STEM concepts to kids ages 6 to 10 while exciting them through a brand they know and love − LEGO®.

FIRST LEGO League Challenge

FIRST LEGO League Challenge (4th-8th grade) is a LEGO Spike Prime-based robotics competition with Scratch/Python coding and includes a team project based on the season’s theme. The regular season runs from August through November. If you are new to robotics or coding, we recommend this level.

FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge (7th-12th grade) is a more advanced robotics competition which features Android/Java programming and Rev/TETRIX/GoBilda robotics. If you have some robotics or coding experience and are at least in 7th grade, we recommend this level.

FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics Competition (9th-12th grade) is the highest level of FIRST robotics. Highlander Robotics (Team #8033) represents Piedmont in regional and national competitions.