Our Robotics Community Prepares Young People for the Future

Our building comes alive in the evenings and on weekends with students who have a singular goal—building and coding the best possible robots while working under a deadline. Through robotics programs developed by FIRST® , the world's leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education, students gain hands-on experience in engineering, teamwork and problem-solving. We love witnessing our teams develop their skills every year. And we love that they'd still be building their robots at 2 am if they could.

Benefits & Outcomes

STEAM Skills

Problem Solving

Strategic Thinking

Leadership

Teamwork

We Support Three Robotics Programs for Grades 2–12

Students can find a program that best fits their age and interests. No prior experience is needed.

FIRST® LEGO® League

GRADES

FLL Explore 2-4

FLL Challenge 4-8

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) uses hands-on STEM challenges to engage kids in grades 2–8, building skills in critical thinking, coding and design through two divisions: Explore (grades 2–4) and Challenge (grades 4–8). Teams are parent-led.

Discover FLL

FIRST® Tech Challenge

GRADES

7-12

In FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), students in grades 7–12 design, build and program robots to compete in an exciting annual game. Teams develop technical skills, collaborate with peers and parent-mentors and grow through hands-on engineering, teamwork and community outreach.

Discover FTC

FIRST® Robotics Challenge

9-12

GRADES

In FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), high school teams have just weeks to build a large robot to compete in a high-energy game. With support from mentors and sponsors, students gain hands-on engineering experience, strengthen teamwork and promote STEM in their community.

Discover FRC

More Than Robots

“The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills.

Kids often come in not knowing what to expect—of the program nor of themselves. They leave with a vision, with confidence and with a sense that they can create their own future.”

Dean Kamen

Founder of FIRST

FIRST® LEGO® League

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) introduces students in grades 2–8 to science, technology, engineering and math through designing, building and coding LEGO robots and solving real-world challenges as a team. It's a fun and exciting way for kids to build confidence, practice teamwork and develop real-world problem-solving skills.

What We Do

We serve as the Wisconsin operational partner for FIRST LEGO League—this means we run all FLL Challenge tournaments and FLL Explore festivals across the state. We also provide ongoing support for teams.

Starting the 2025-26 season, we’re excited to offer a new opportunity for local FLL teams. BadgerBots will host FLL teams in our building! We offer a welcoming space for kids and their parent coaches to meet, build and code together. We’ll also support parent coaches by offering guidance and resources to help them lead their teams with confidence.

To help families learn more about the program and how to get involved, BadgerBots holds FLL Challenge Info Nights every summer in July and August. These sessions are a great way to discover what FLL is all about, ask questions and find out how to get your child involved.

Whether you're a parent, educator or volunteer, we're here to help you bring the power of FLL to your community.

Want More Info?

Click here for "How FLL Works"

Click here for "How to Start an FLL Team"

Current Wisconsin FLL teams: click here for resources and support.

FIRST® Tech Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a robotics competition program for students in grades 7–12. Teams design, build and code robots to compete in alliance-style matches against other teams. Using a reusable robotics platform powered by Android technology, students program their robots using Java-based coding tools.

Teams compete in local qualifying tournaments, with the opportunity to advance to the Wisconsin State Championship—and potentially even the World Championship.

What We Do

BadgerBots supports FTC teams in Dane County by providing a robotics kit, access to a shared workspace, mentor support and opportunities for community service. Each student pays a yearly participation fee, which covers the cost of the kit, national team registration and expenses for in-state tournaments including transportation, lodging and meals.

Our Teams

Our current teams are:

Team 22548—Attack Hamsterz

Team 26691—THUNDERHeads

Team 27088—Technical Difficulties

Want More Info?

Click here for "How FTC Works"

FIRST Wisconsin serves as the Wisconsin Program Delivery Organization for FTC.

FLL

FTC

FIRST® Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) challenges students in grades 9–12 to design, build and program an industrial-sized robot to compete in alliance-based games with other teams. These student-led, student-run teams take on real-world engineering challenges and compete at multiple tournaments each year.

What We Do

We support FRC Team 1306 by providing a dedicated workspace, experienced mentors and opportunities for community outreach and service. Team 1306 meets year-round and consistently qualifies for championship events.