FIRST Unveils New Robotics Platform for 2008 FIRST Tech Challenge Season

New system provides sustainable, scalable and affordable bridge
between FIRST LEGO(R) League and FIRST Robotics Competition
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology),
an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young
people's interest and participation in science and technology, today
revealed its new robotics platform for the 2008 FIRST Tech Challenge
(FTC) season. The presentation and preview demonstration were made to
attendees of the 2008 FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome.

FTC is an accessible, affordable robotics competition designed for
high-school-aged students. Each fall teams of up to ten students
compete at high-energy regional tournaments where the students,
collaborating with mentors, must apply math and science concepts to
solve the annual challenge. Designed to provide more real-world
relevance for participants, the new FTC starter system consists of a
TETRIX metal robot structure kit, LEGO(R) MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robotics
kit, servomotors, controllers, advanced sensors and LEGO NXT, NXTG,
LabView for FTC, and RobotC programming software.

During the 2008 season, which begins September 2008, teams will
use the new FTC competition kit. Twelve showcase teams will
participate in a pilot event at this year's World Championship in
Atlanta to demonstrate the new kit's capabilities. Teams can find more
detail about the platform components, including pricing and
availability, at www.usfirst.org.

"FIRST now offers a powerful continuum of programs to inspire kids
of all ages to discover the excitement and creativity of science and
technology. Each program meets the needs of a particular age group by
presenting teams with an engineering challenge and providing a
robotics kit with age-appropriate technology and materials," said
FIRST founder Dean Kamen. "By working with our partners at Carnegie
Mellon University, HiTechnic, The LEGO Group, National Instruments and
Pitsco, FIRST is now able to provide FTC students with an engineering
challenge that is more real-world and a robotics experience that is
higher quality, more rewarding, and ultimately, more fun."

"For ten years we have been honored to support the FIRST LEGO and
Junior FIRST LEGO League challenges to inspire the creative thinking
of children around the world," said Jens Maibom, vice president LEGO
Education. "Today more than ever, it is essential that we develop
hands-on, minds-on experiences both inside and out of the classroom to
engage children and help them become builders of tomorrow. We are
proud to partner with National Instruments and FIRST to extend this
proven approach into the newly redesigned FTC program."

"We must inspire today's students to become tomorrow's engineers
and scientists. FIRST offers industry and academia alike the
opportunity to get students of all ages excited about math, science
and technology," said Ray Almgren, vice president of academic
relations at National Instruments. "Through the collaboration of
FIRST, LEGO and National Instruments, we are providing students with
the latest technology that real-world scientists and engineers are
using in their applications and that helps students grow and nurture
their passion for learning."

During the 2007 season, approximately 800 FTC teams competed at
events in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. FTC participants are eligible
to apply for approximately seven million dollars in scholarship funds
from some of the finest science and engineering colleges and
universities in the country.

Growing Up with FIRST

Sixteen years ago, the initial FIRST Robotics Competition took
place with 28 teams in a high school gym in New Hampshire. With the
unwavering support of corporate sponsors and a global community of
teacher, mentor and parent volunteers, FIRST's four robotics programs
now serve more than 150,000 children around the world. Children are
eligible for the program at age six, but can enter at any point
afterwards and may participate all the way up to high school
graduation.

-- The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) combines the excitement
of sport with science and technology to create a unique
varsity sport for the mind. FRC helps high school students
discover the rewarding and engaging process of innovation and
engineering by challenging them to work with professional
mentors to design and build a robot, and compete in
high-intensity events that measure the effectiveness of each
robot, the power of team strategy and collaboration, and the
determination of students.

-- The revised FIRST Tech Challenge provides an intermediate
robotics competition that offers high-school-aged students the
traditional challenge of FRC, but with a more accessible and
affordable robotics kit.

-- Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the FIRST LEGO(R) League
(FLL) asks kids, 9 to 14, to use the LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT
robotics platform to solve real-world engineering challenges
facing today's scientists. More than 10,600 teams of ten
children participated in the 2007 Power Puzzle Challenge.

-- Junior FIRST LEGO(R) League (JFLL) introduces kids, 6 to 9, to
the wonders of science and technology with a challenge based
on the same real-world theme as FLL. FLL and JFLL are a result
of a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group. Junior
FIRST LEGO League (JFLL) is an exciting opportunity for the
youngest budding scientists. It encompasses the core concepts
of all FIRST programs to inspire, excite, and introduce kids
to the wonders of science, technology, and engineering.

ABOUT FIRST

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration
and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an
appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in
Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to
build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating
young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and
engineering. With the support of many of the world's most well-known
companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics
Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST
LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League
for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to
www.usfirst.org.

FIRST Communications Manager
Marian Murphy, 603-666-3906, ext. 409
mmurphy@usfirst.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008