Robots will be swerving around the playing field starting with the first regionals held February 25th every weekend leading up to the FIRST Robotics Championships April 22nd in St. Louis Missouri. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) challenged students to build 120-lb competitive robots in just six weeks. The moment for students has come to showcase their tote stacking machines at regionals throughout the world. As a robotics enthusiast, friend or family of a team member, or you just want to get a piece of the tech action attending a regional is exciting! Below are five tips on how to be a super fan at a FIRST Robotics Regional and make the most of your experience watching these glorious geeks' gadgets.
1) Discover Where To Attend FIRST Robotics Districts/Regionals are free and open to the public! If you don't already know where and when your closest FIRST Robotics Regional is being held scroll through this list to find out: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/regional-events A typical account of a regional: The event starts on a Thursday and teams compete in practice matches that do not effect their ranking. Friday is when qualification matches for ranking starts and teams compete in a Round-robin fashion. Team's rank determines if they will compete in finals. Some awards are given out Friday evening. Saturday begins with qualification matches in the morning. After lunch finals are held, a winner is declared, and awards are given out. Saturday is the best day to watch for fierce competition. If you cannot attend a regional in person each competition is broadcast online.
2) Learn About The Game: Recycle Rush In Recycle Rush, two alliances of three teams race against the clock to stack as many game pieces as possible in two and a half minutes. Game pieces include totes, recycling containers, and pool noodles (litter). The stack that grants the most amount of points is six totes and a container! For double the points alliances can cooperate with their opposing alliance to stack totes in the middle of the field. Recycle Rush Game Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6UYFKNGHJ8
3) Explore The Pit Area Shouts of "Robot robot!" can be heard from students clearing the aisles for their machine. Beyond the playing field is a sea of teams fixing their robots, formulating game plays, and exchanging buttons with fellow FIRST members and fans. The pit area is a must see stop for fans and tech enthusiasts. Each team has approximately a 10ft x 10ft x 10ft space to work on their robot, store hardware, and chat with fans about their work. Similar to a NASCAR pit stop, team members quickly change out their robot's 12V batteries and replace burnt motors. Pick up a pair of safety glasses at the entrance of the pit area and feel free to collect buttons from teams, check out the diverse robot designs, and ask about a team member's experience. From my experience at competitions Thursday and Friday mornings are prime times for button collecting.
4) Know The Robo Lingo Every sport seems to have their own language using slang like hail mary, alley-oop, and meatball. This sport of the mind has a jargon of its own.
Gracious Professionalism (GP)- This is the most powerful mantra of FIRST Robotics, a mind set that promotes "competing like crazy" yet "treating others with respect and kindness" as co-founder Woodie Flowers explains. As a result you will see team members helping other teammates from rival teams fix their robot, patch some code, and loan a few tools.
Buttons- Generic name given to giveaways teams hand out to students and fans in the pit area. This robot swag can consist of necklaces, hats, bandannas, pens, candy, miniature safety kits, and of course buttons.
Chairman's- Short for the Chairman's Award, the most prestigious award presented to teams for their efforts in community outreach, promotion of STEM, and embodiment of FIRST Robotics' goals. The teams selected serve as role models for other FIRST Teams. Regional Chairman's award winners win the opportunity to compete in the World Championships. Teams preform outreach, write an essay, create a video, and give a presentation to be eligible.
Poolitics (Pool noodle politics)- Coined by robotics strategist and coach Karthik relating to decisions made about the use of pool noodle game pieces. The pool noodles act as litter in Recycle Rush and an alliance receives points if the opposite alliance has litter in their zone.
Coopertition (Co-Op)- Another ethos of FIRST that "is founded on the concept and philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other as the compete", as described on usfirst.org. To further encourage cooperation a part of Recycle Rush is creating a sack of yellow totes with the opposite alliance.
Worlds- Short for World Championships, FIRST teams dream to compete at Worlds where there are eight competition fields and hundreds of robots. Teams can win the right to go to words by winning a Regional/ District event, Chairman's Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, and Rookie All Star Award. Awards are given out on Saturdays, the last day of competition.
Team Number- Each team is assigned a number when they register for first robotics. Some teams have been registered for over 20 years! The higher the number, the younger the team.
Chute Door- Whoops, almost left out poor chute door. Chute door is where players can drop totes into the playing field for their robots to receive. There has been a surprising amount of speculation by teams debating if their robot should receive totes from the door or pick up existing ones on the field. Several videos are up online with students observing how the tote falls through the chute door to determine if it will even land upright in a robot, Chute door has become this year's obsession for many strategists.
5) Volunteer At A Regional Take super fanning to the next level by volunteering at a Regional or District event. To be a volunteer and help the cause there are both technical and nontechnical positions. Volunteers have helped with field set up, field take-down, pit announcements, game set up, food distribution, judging, and more. Check it out! http://www.usfirst.org/community/volunteers
Around the world FIRST Robotics teams huddled around screens big and small to watch their newest engineering mission be unveiled. Some in awe, shock, and disappointment students reacted to their newest challenge Recycle Rush. By February 17th, just six weeks, teams must create a robot that race to stack totes, lift containers, and herd pool noodles.
In Recycle Rush, two alliances of three teams race against the clock to stack as many objects a possible in two and a half minutes. This is a unique game for FIRST Robotics since each alliance will be separated by a six inch barrier, there will no longer be a need for defense. Although some students are disappointed in the lack of defensive plays and butting heads with the opposing alliance this gives them an opportunity to focus on intricate game piece manipulation rather than protecting their robot. Coopertition, coined by professor and co-founder Woodie Flowers, is a unique characteristic of Recycle Rush as well. For double the points alliances can cooperate with their opposing alliance to stack totes in the middle of the field.
Recycle Rush Game Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTyCIYZQ_1s
How I'm Helping Out: During build season I will be mentoring the Duluth East Daredevils Robotics Team's media department. We are joining forces with a rival team and Duluth News Tribune to do reporting on the build season and FIRST robotics regional competition February 26th-28th in Duluth, MN. Here is what was published previous seasons: http://www.daredevils2512.org/media/bluedevil-press/
How You Can Help Out: FIRST Robotics competitions around the globe are in need of volunteers. To be a volunteer and help the cause there are both technical and nontechnical positions. Check it out! http://www.usfirst.org/community/volunteers
You may or may not have noticed the anxious stir experienced by high schoolers around the world. Not the stir associated with the holiday season or fear of returning back to school but caused by anxiety for a six week long engineering mission. Tomorrow, January 3rd, over 4,900 FIRST Robotics teams will be assigned a game for which they design, fabricate, and program a 120lb robot to compete. Really, a bunch of high schoolers are going to build a sophisticated machine requiring skills way beyond what they learn in school? Sounds like 4,900 teams of overly confident loony toons to me. I assure you from experience being on one of theses ambitious bot building teams that it is possible with copious amounts of drive and dedication.
Tubes, balls, frisbees and even miniature robots have been tossed, thrown and launched by these high schoolers' mechanical creations. At competition following their build season, teams compete with each other in the game assigned weeks prior. Games in the past have been similar to traditional sports such as soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball. Until tomorrow teams have no clue what kind of robot they will be creating.
FIRST Robotics is the master mind behind getting students and their communities hooked on robotics. Inventor Dean Kamen and professor Woodie Flowers, FIRST founders, wanted to inspire the next generation of innovators. Their mission is reflected in the competition's name FIRST Robotics - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Kind of a mouthful but tech savvy love their acronyms.
Get in on this crazy tech action by watching the FIRST Robotics Kick Off where the new game will be revealed January 3, 2015 10:15am EST : http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/2015-first-robotics-competition-kickoff
This is last years game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zWzICG5to
The FIRST Robotics team a part of is the Duluth East Daredevils team 2512. Here is a previous robot a robot designed for an ultimate frisbee competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZqM96bJaH4
FIRST Robotics Link: http://www.usfirst.org/