Buffal0B1LLs_fan
March 25th, 2006, 10:06:11 PM
First Robotics Competition.
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I’ve heard about this before, but today I spent an afternoon at a Regional Robotics Competition at the University of Davis. (http://firstsac.engineering.ucdavis.edu/) It was a lot of fun for my family, their friends and me. The idea is to solve engineering and design problems in a limited time, promoting creativity, and cooperation. These High School kids have to create a robot that can perform the set tasks (in this case, shooting nerf-type balls through a hoop), while competing against opposing robots. <o:p></o:p>
Background: You all get the instructions at the same time (webcast – teams aroung the globe). Then you design; build; test; program; and eventually finish the Robot that will “compete”.<o:p></o:p>
The sponsoring entity is FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). <o:p></o:p>
My kids team (under-funded, the Jamaican Bobsled team of robotics) placed 7<sup>th</sup> out of 40 teams (http://www2.usfirst.org/2006comp/Events/SAC/rankings.html). Pretty cool. <o:p></o:p>
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It was awe-inspiring. The place was packed, High Schools from HI, AK, MT, MI, OR, and WA were there cheering on the spirit of science, technology, cooperation, creativity, and sportsmanship in a positive way.
<o:p></o:p>
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>
I’ve heard about this before, but today I spent an afternoon at a Regional Robotics Competition at the University of Davis. (http://firstsac.engineering.ucdavis.edu/) It was a lot of fun for my family, their friends and me. The idea is to solve engineering and design problems in a limited time, promoting creativity, and cooperation. These High School kids have to create a robot that can perform the set tasks (in this case, shooting nerf-type balls through a hoop), while competing against opposing robots. <o:p></o:p>
Background: You all get the instructions at the same time (webcast – teams aroung the globe). Then you design; build; test; program; and eventually finish the Robot that will “compete”.<o:p></o:p>
The sponsoring entity is FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). <o:p></o:p>
My kids team (under-funded, the Jamaican Bobsled team of robotics) placed 7<sup>th</sup> out of 40 teams (http://www2.usfirst.org/2006comp/Events/SAC/rankings.html). Pretty cool. <o:p></o:p>
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>
It was awe-inspiring. The place was packed, High Schools from HI, AK, MT, MI, OR, and WA were there cheering on the spirit of science, technology, cooperation, creativity, and sportsmanship in a positive way.