Southwest Florida League Meets
Head-to-head matches in Alliance format on a 12′ × 12′ field against teams from across the league.
Dates announced by FIRST
TBA[Calendar & Events]
Season calendar
A FIRST Tech Challenge season starts in September and runs through the competition season. Here is how ours unfolds, from the game reveal to the field.
- Kickoff
- September
- League
- Southwest Florida League
- Season
- 2026–2027
[Season Timeline]
From kickoff to the field
Every season follows the same arc. Competition dates are published by FIRST as the season approaches, and we post them here as soon as they are announced.
[ 01 / Kickoff ]September
The season is revealed
FIRST Canopy BIOBUZZ is released along with the rules. Every team in the world gets the same game on the same day — the build starts here.
[ 02 / CAD ]September – October
Model the whole robot
We assemble the full robot in OnShape before ordering parts, checking reach, interference and gear ratios digitally.
[ 03 / Build ]October – December
Fabricate and assemble
Structural channel, custom panels and 3D-printed parts come together. Mechanisms get prototyped, tested and rebuilt.
[ 04 / Code ]November – January
Program in Java
Autonomous routines and driver-controlled logic, tuned against real match conditions on the practice field.
[ 05 / Compete ]League season
Local, regional, state
We compete locally and regionally in the Southwest Florida League, then hope to push on to the State level and beyond.
[ 06 / Outreach ]Year round
Share robotics
Demos, community events and our outreach robot take robotics out of the workshop and into Southwest Florida.
[Competitions]
Where we compete
Regional Qualifier
Our shot at advancing out of league play into the next level of the season.
Dates announced by FIRST
TBAFlorida State Championship
The state level — the target we're building toward this season.
If we qualify
TBA[Community]
Demos & outreach
Community Robotics Demos
Faster Than Light travels to schools, libraries and local events to show what our team builds.
Year round
School & STEM Nights
We bring the robot into classrooms and STEM nights around Southwest Florida to get students hands-on.
By request
Summer Outreach Build
Building and testing the outreach robot — designed to take in and shoot balls, built to share robotics with the community.
Summer
Want us at your event?
We bring the robot to schools, STEM nights and community events across Southwest Florida. Tell us the date and the location and we will bring a demo.