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FIRST Robotics Competition

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FIRST Robotics Competition
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event FIRST Power Up
SportRobotics-related games
FoundedDean Kamen
Woodie Flowers
First season1992
CommissionerFrank Merrick[1]
Motto"More Than Robots"
No. of teamsTotal Registered: 7,331[2]
Countries
25 countries[3]
Most recent
champion(s)

2018 Champions:
Houston Chairman's Award Winner:
United States 1311: "Kell Robotics"
Detroit Chairman's Award Winner:
United States 2834: "Bionic Black Hawks"
Houston Champion Teams:
United States 254: "The Cheesy Poofs"
United States 148: "The Robowranglers"

United States 2976: "Spartabots"
Israel 3075: "Ha-Dream Team"
Detroit Champion Teams:
United States 2767: "Stryke Force"
United States 27: "Team RUSH"
Canada 2708: "Lake Effect Robotics"
United States 4027: "Centre County 4-H Robotics"
Most titlesWorld Champions:
United States71: Team Hammond (4 titles)
United States254: The Cheesy Poofs (4 titles)
Blue Banners:
United States254: Cheesy Poofs (52 banners)
Regional & District Wins:
United States 254: The Cheesy Poofs (36 titles)
Regional & District Chairman's Award:
United States503: Frog Force (10 awards)
Longest Win Streak :
Canada 2056: OP Robotics (23 titles)
Greatest Combination in History :
Canada 2056: OP Robotics and 1114: Simbotics (18 Regional wins together)[4]
TV partner(s)NBCUniversal
NASA TV
Related
competitions		FIRST Tech Challenge
FIRST Lego League
FIRST Lego League Jr.
Official websitewww.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build game-playing robots that weigh up to 120 pounds (54 kg).[5] Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, flying discs into goals, inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes annually. While teams are given a standard set of parts, they are also allowed a budget and are encouraged to buy or make specialized parts. The FIRST Robotics Competition is one of four robotics competition programs organized by FIRST, the other three being FIRST Lego League Jr., FIRST Lego League, and the FIRST Tech Challenge.

FIRST Robotics Competition has a unique culture, built around two values. "Gracious Professionalism" embraces the competition inherent in the program, but rejects trash talk and chest-thumping, instead embracing empathy and respect for other teams. "Coopertition" emphasizes that teams can cooperate and compete at the same time.[6] The goal of the program is to inspire students to be science and technology leaders.

2018 was the 27th year of the competition. 3,647 teams with more than 91,000 students and 25,000 mentors from 27 countries built robots. They competed in 63 Regional Competitions, 85 District Qualifying Competitions, and 10 District Championships.[3] Over 800 teams won slots to attend the two FIRST Championship events, where they competed in a tournament. In addition to on-field competition, teams and team members competed for awards recognizing entrepreneurship, creativity, engineering, industrial design, safety, controls, media, quality, and exemplifying the core values of the program.

Most teams reside in the United States, with Canada, China, Mexico, Israel, Turkey and Australia contributing significant numbers of teams.[3]

History

1992: Maize Craze

FIRST was founded in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, with inspiration and assistance from physicist and MIT professor emeritus Woodie Flowers. Kamen was disappointed with the number of kids—particularly women and minorities—who considered science and technology careers, and decided to do something about it. As an inventor, he looked for activities that captured the enthusiasm of students, and decided that combining the excitement of sports competition with science and technology had potential.

Distilling what sports had done right into a recipe for engaging young people, Kamen says, turned out to be relatively straightforward. "It's after school, not in school. It's aspirational, not required," he explained to me.

"You don't get quizzes and tests, you go into competitions and get trophies and letters. You don't have teachers, you have coaches. You nurture, you don't judge. You create teamwork between all the participants. We justify sports for teamwork but why, when we do it in the classroom, do we call it cheating?"

Most of all, it was a nonjudgmental space, where in contrast science and math in traditional educational settings had been soured with embarrassment and uncertainty.[7]

Kamen has stated that FIRST is the invention he feels most proud of, and predicts that participants will be responsible for significant technological advances in years to come.[8] The first FIRST Robotics Competition season was in 1992 and had one event at a high school gymnasium in New Hampshire.[9] That first competition was relatively small-scale, similar in size to today's FIRST Tech Challenge and Vex Robotics Competition games. Robots relied on a wired connection to receive data from drivers; in the following year, it quickly transitioned to a wireless system.[10][11]

Teams

A New York City FIRST Robotics Team at a Greater DC Regional with their robot (Hunter College High School-3419)

3,647 teams from 28 countries competed in 2018 Power Up. Of these, 3,171 are "veteran teams" (meaning they have competed in a previous season), and 476 are "rookie teams" (meaning that 2018 was their first season of competition).[3]

The countries represented are listed below: (in decreasing order of number of teams as of 2018)

Competition

The FIRST Championship was held at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri from 2011 to 2017.

FIRST Championship

Main article: FIRST Championship

The FIRST Championship is the culmination of the FIRST Robotics Competition competition season, and occurs in late April each year. Roughly 800 teams participated in two Championship events in 2018, held in April in Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan.[12]

Media exposure

The PBS documentary "Gearing Up" followed four teams through the 2008 season.[13]

In the television series Dean of Invention, Dean Kamen made appeals promoting FIRST prior to commercial breaks.[14]

During the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition season, FIRST team 3132, Thunder Down Under, was followed by a Macquarie University student film crew to document the first year of FIRST Robotics Competition in Australia. The crew produced a documentary film called I, Wombot.[15][16] The film premiered during the 2011 Dungog Film Festival.[17][18]

A book called The New Cool was written by Neal Bascomb about the story of Team 1717 from Goleta, California as they competed in the 2009 game season. A movie adaptation directed by Michael Bacall is being produced.[19]

The CNN documentary "Don't Fail Me: Education in America", which aired on May 15, 2011, followed three FIRST Robotics Competition teams during the 2011 season. The documentary profiled one student from each team, covering different geographic and socioeconomic levels: Shaan Patel from Team 1403 Cougar Robotics, Maria Castro from Team 842 Falcon Robotics, and Brian Whited from Team 3675 Eagletrons.[20]

On August 14, 2011, ABC aired a special on FIRST called "i.am FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll"[21] that featured many famous musical artists such as The Black Eyed Peas and Willow Smith. will.i.am himself was the executive producer of the special. The program placed a special focus on the FIRST Robotics competition, even though it included segments on the FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Lego League, and FIRST LEGO League Jr.[citation needed]

From 1996 to 1998, the FIRST Championship was covered by ESPN.[22]

For the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, five FIRST Robotics Competition teams and their robots led the parade, with one robot cutting the ribbon and the others shooting confetti.[23]

In the 2014 movie Transformers: Age of Extinction, a FIRST Robotics Competition Robot built by Team 2468, Team Appreciate, for the 2012 Season was featured in Cade Yeager's garage shooting the foam basketball game pieces from Rebound Rumble.[24]

The 2015 Kickoff was, for the first time, broadcast by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, and was available via OnDemand for the month of January 2015.[25]

The fourth season of The Fosters (2013 TV series) had several episodes featuring characters competing in a regional FIRST Robotics Competition competition, most notably episode 8 "Girl Code".[26]

Notable people

Employees and volunteers

  • Marc Hodosh, entrepreneur, chairman of the Boston FIRST Robotics Competition competition[27]
  • Mark Leon, NASA researcher and Master of Ceremonies for several FIRST Robotics Competition events[28]

Mentors

Games

FIRST Robotics Competition
  • Intermission during Aim High in Los Angeles, encouraging teams to socialize
    Intermission during Aim High in Los Angeles, encouraging teams to socialize
  • The 2006 Triplets of 1114, 1503, and 1680. 1114 and 1503 won 3 regionals each, while 1680 won a silver finalist medal and was a quarterfinalist twice.
    The 2006 Triplets of 1114, 1503, and 1680. 1114 and 1503 won 3 regionals each, while 1680 won a silver finalist medal and was a quarterfinalist twice.
  • Competition at the 2008 Hawaii regionals.
    Competition at the 2008 Hawaii regionals.
  • "Barrage", Team 254's 2014 World Champion FRC robot
    "Barrage", Team 254's 2014 World Champion FRC robot

See also

References

  1. ^ Merrick, Frank. "Title Change". firstinspires.org. US FIRST. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "FIRST Robotics FRC Team List". TBA. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d "2018 Season Facts" (PDF). FIRST. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Insights Overview". thebluealliance.com. The Blue Alliance. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "FRC 2018 Game and Season Manual" (PDF). Retrieved May 14, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition". FIRST. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Robot Love: Inside Dean Kamen's FIRST Championship 2014". SlashGear. Archived from the original on January 30, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Harris, Mark (June 10, 2010). "Brain scan: Mr Segway's difficult path". The Economist. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "History - FIRST".
  10. ^ 1992 FIRST Robotics final match. October 6, 2008. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016 – via YouTube. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ 1993 US FIRST Robotics "Rug Rage" match. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016 – via YouTube. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "2017 & 2018 FIRST Championship Information Update". April 25, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "What Is Gearing Up?". KETC. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Behind the Scenes With Dean Kamen on Dean of Invention". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Home - FIRST Team 3132 - FIRST Team 3132". FIRST Team 3132. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "I, Wombot (2011)". IMDb. October 1, 2011. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ I, Wombot Archived May 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Newsroom - Macquarie University". www.mq.edu.au. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ McCarthy, Erin (April 28, 2012). "Director Michael Bacall on FIRST Robotics Movie The New Cool". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  20. ^ "Don't Fail Me: Education in America airs Sunday". CNN. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "THE BLACK EYED PEAS FRONT MAN WILL.I.AM AND INVENTOR/FIRST® FOUNDER DEAN KAMEN TEAM UP FOR A GROUNDBREAKING, ONE-HOUR SPECIAL CELEBRATING EDUCATION, ROBOTICS AND SCIENCE, SUNDAY, AUGUST 14 ON ABC" (PDF). FIRST. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 18, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ 1996 FIRST Championships ESPN part1. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016 – via YouTube. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Canessa, Kevin (November 28, 2013). "Martin County student robotics team kick off Macy's Thanksgiving Parade". WPTV. Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Stenglein, Jack (July 16, 2014). "Chap Robotics makes appearance in new Transformers movie". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "2015 FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) Kickoff!". Comcast. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ Merrick, Frank. "FIRST on The Fosters". FIRST inspires: FRC blog. Archived from the original on September 5, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "Subset of famous TED event may settle in Newport - Boston Business Journal". Boston Business Journal. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "Spaceward Bound - Mark Leon". quest.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIRST.
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