The Puerto Rico Institute of Robotics (PRIOR) is a non-profit organization founded in 2007, in alliance with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Universities, the government of Puerto Rico, and the Industry.

          PRIOR host and celebrate an annual robotics competition known as “Technology Challenge”. Every year the concept and rules of the competition change according to VEX Robotics. After the summer camp, for 10 Saturdays, starting in September thru December, all the students selected receive an intensive training on concepts of physics, math, pre-engineering, programming, structures, technologies, research and team work. During the training period the students built and program a robot to perform specific task for a final competition. During the competition the teams of 4 students form alliances with other schools to compete against other alliances in their organized environment. The development of these robots serves to teach and inspire students in concepts of STEM. These events are fun for the students, their mentors, their schools, and have proven to be a launching pad for the future engineering minds of Puerto Rico. The top performers of these events will be invited to represent their school as part of the Puerto Rico delegation to the Robotics World Championship.