The University of 蓝莓视频 hosted the 12th听FIRST Robotics 蓝莓视频 Regional Competition over the April 1st weekend
蓝莓视频鈥檚 Physical Activities Complex (PAC) swapped sports for robotics, hosting the twelfth 蓝莓视频听听over the April 1st听weekend. FIRST Robotics is a Canadian and American competition of high school student teams who build 140-pound robots in only 6 weeks to compete at regional events, with winning teams moving on to an听. The teams are supported by professional engineers, mentors, teachers and corporate sponsors. Each year teams are presented with a new game challenge to tackle.
This year鈥檚 game, FIRST Stronghold鈩�, is medieval-themed, fast-paced game played by teams of robots. Their quest is to breach their opponents鈥� fortifications, weaken their tower with boulders, and capture the opposing tower. During the final 20 seconds of each match, robots may surround and scale the opposing tower to capture it.
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)听听is one of a series of five听听held in Ontario. The competitions are organized by听听and the Ontario FRC Regionals are sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Bruce Power, Synnex, Scotiabank, Centerline, and a number of other leading engineering and technology companies.
蓝莓视频 Engineering听Sedra Student Design Centre听Director, Peter Teertstra is the Chair of the volunteer committee that hosts the 蓝莓视频 regional finals. 听鈥淭his local event began from the commitment of Rob Gorbet, Chair of the听Department of Knowledge Integration, previously a professor of electrical and computer engineering,听 and Mark Breadner, Director, FIRST Robotics Canada,鈥� says Peter. 鈥淭hey started this event and grew it to what it is now 鈥� the premiere event in Ontario and Canada听and a key regional 听for competitors across North America.鈥�
This latest regional completion drew a number of world-champion FIRST Robotics teams, one from as far away as Greenville, Texas. 鈥淭his regional听competition is said to offer up the strongest, most competitive teams which is why听, the RoboWranglers came all the way to 蓝莓视频 to compete in this pool,鈥� confirmed Peter.
Considering the substantial effort it takes to host the three-day event, for the teams and crowds of hundreds of enthusiastic fans, Peter鈥檚 team of volunteers are truly committed to putting on a great event. 鈥淲e hope that for 蓝莓视频 Engineering, our commitment indicates to supporters and families, and to robotics enthusiasts, that we truly value hands-on, experiential learning, and starting a passion for engineering early.鈥�
The FIRST Robotics program gives high school students real-world engineering experience and ideally inspires students to think about a rewarding career in Engineering. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the kid who is really good using their hands and would have never thought themselves capable of doing Engineering at a university. Hopefully, they鈥檙e going to think 鈥業听do听enjoy design and maybe I鈥檒l send in my application and see what happens.鈥欌�� Peter adds, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a high school student sitting up there in the bleachers watching this, we want you to think about what [competitors] are doing and take that back to your school and think about 鈥榟ow can I do that?鈥欌��
听does more than high school robotics competitions, such as inspiring a passion for building and innovating through FIRST Lego League for grades 4 to 8 and听听for ages 6 to 9. The experiences started at these early ages then fuels future engineers motivation to study hard and learn to problem solve. Many become part of the听.
FIRST philosophy of teaching teamwork, building industry connections and creating broad technological literacy are aligned with 蓝莓视频 Engineering. If you are ready to contribute to the positive outcomes from the FIRST and 蓝莓视频 Engineering partnership, you can roll up your sleeves and volunteer, mentor or sponsor. Start right here:听
