FIRST Robotics began in 1989 as a way of encouraging students to choose
careers in math, science and technology, while also building their life
skills and instilling a spirit of "gracious professionalism" and humility
in its participants. Without "chest thumping" or "sticky-sweet
platitudes," as the site explains, young people engage in competitions
where they build robots. The Junior FIRST LEGO league is for 6-9 year
olds. The FIRST LEGO league targets younger children ages 9-14,
while the FIRST Robotics Competition helps high school age students. The
FIRST Tech Challenge provides more affordable robotics technology to high
school students. More than 137,000 kids participated in last year's
program, spanning across 42 countries from Germany and the UK to Turkey
and Israel.
FIRST Robotics founder Dean Kamen is an inventor, physicist, engineer
and entrepreneur. He is perhaps best known for inventing the Segway Human
Transporter, an environmentally friendly short distance travel solution.
He's also developed the HomeChoice portable dialysis machine (Baxter
Healthcare) and the Independence IBOT 4000 mobile robot system (Johnson &
Johnson). He's currently working on a water purification system
that promises to provide clean drinking water to 1.1 billion people
around the world. For his efforts, he's received the Heinz Award in
Technology, the National Medal of Technology presented by President
Clinton (2000) and the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2002), among others. For
2009, the FIRST Robotics Competition will be called "Lunacy" to celebrate
the 40th anniversary of our moon landing and will be held in Atlanta
April 16-18. This year's autonomous robots will be restricted by size and
weight (no more than 5 ft tall, no wider than 38 inches, no deeper than
28 inches and no heavier than 150 lbs) and must be able to pick up orbit
balls (2-point moon rocks, empty cells and 15-point super cells) and
transfer them into a trailer hitched to their opponent's robot in just
two minutes and fifteen seconds. While 80-90% of the teams
participating this year will be returning from previous years, there are
300 rookie teams joining as well. Of course, even given the charitable
contributions, each team will likely need to come up with $9,000 -
$10,000 to cover meals, transportation, lodging, food, robot parts and
lab fees. The Baby Boomers grew up fascinated by the Space Race and
the emergence of heroic astronauts as role models. Today's youth are more
into computers. Even so, television shows like "Mythbusters," "Build It
Bigger" and battling robot competitions are trying to intrigue young
people to look to physics, engineering and technology. However, hands-on
learning with robot design events like FIRST Robotics may be what really
helps seal the deal. Andy Bell, a product manager at National
Instruments, explained, "Working with colleges and universities enabled
us to help educators shift from lecture-based learning to hands-on
learning. Through our partnership with Lego, we saw an opportunity to do
the same with an even younger audience... and do so in a very engaging
and entertaining way." Educate yourself about the first robotics
program from Mike Selvon portal. We appreciate your feedback and welcome
your comments at our robotics technology blog where a free audio gift
awaits you. Related Articles - FIRST Robotics, build robots, robotics
technology, mobile robot, autonomous robots, robot design, Email this
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