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March 10, 2008
FIRST Robotics CompetitionFor years, NASA's Robotics Alliance Project has supported participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition by providing grants to high school teams as well as sponsoring FIRST regional competitions. Today BoardBuzz is spotlighting the Virginia regional FIRST Overdrive competition. We learned of the competition from local Goochland, Virginia team coach, Matt Wilson, whom we just happen to know. He is a high school physics teacher who volunteered his time and expertise to guide students from Goochland High School in the competition. His team even went on to win the "gracious professionalism" award. Congratulations!
First—no pun intended—some background on the event. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization that aspires to transform our culture by making science, math, engineering, and technology seem as cool to kids as sports.
The Virginia FIRST website provides this brief history of the event:
FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter. FIRST operates the FIRST Robotics Competition in which teams of high school students, sponsored and assisted by local companies and volunteers, design, assemble, and test a robot capable of performing a specified task in competition with other teams. FIRST also runs the FIRST LEGO League, for children 9-14 years old, and FIRST Place, an innovative science and technology center, including a hands-on children's science museum.
In this year’s FIRST Overdrive, students designed robots to race around a track knocking down 40" inflated balls and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass. Extra points are scored by robots positioning the balls back on the overpass before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match. Watch this animation to see a full demonstration.
Students and mentors swarmed VCU's Siegel Center this weekend—effectively turning it into a giant body shop. They continued working up until the last moment to fine-tune their robots. Over 400 students, teachers, engineers and mentors on 64 teams from around the country, including one from Hawai'i, could be found tinkering on their robots. It was an exciting three-day event from practice to the championship round. Check out the final scores, rankings, awards from the competition.
BoardBuzz thinks the whole concept of the competition is an excellent one. What better way to stimulate students' problem-solving skills and interest in science and technology than this type of hands-on experience. We also agree with Pattie Cook, the VirginiaFIRST regional director:
"The companies want a more prepared work force," she said. "Kids want more technology. They think it's cool to know about technology. The whole country has begun talking also about the fact that there aren't enough kids learning science and math."
And there's far more to learn than just the science. The competition seeks to redefine winning for these students. They are rewarded for excellence in design, team spirit, professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. Scoring the most points is a secondary goal. Winning means building partnerships that last.
The Virginia event is one of 41 regional contests that will lead up to the 2008 FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, April 17-19. Are you interested and want to get involved? Learn more about volunteering, mentoring, and even joining the competition. Students even qualify for a whole host of scholarships. And probably most exciting, is that BoardBuzz always loves to hear about students doing extraordinary things!
Posted March 10, 2008 8:50 AM | Education Technology
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