High
school
students
with
a
passion
for
designing,
building
and
programming
robots
will
compete
from
March
20
to
22
at
the
University
of
Waterloo
in
the
qualifying
round
for
FIRST,
an
international
robotics
competition.
Thirty
teams
with
names
such
as
SWAT,
Warp7,
Simbotics,
Ice
Cubed,
BeaverworX,
REBotics
and
Ram-ferno
will
vie
for
an
invitation
to
the
FIRST
Robotics
Competition
(FRC)
World
Championships
in
St.
Louis,
Missouri,
where
they
will
compete
with
teams
from
all
over
the
world
for
the
title
of
2014
FRC
World
Champions.
This
year’s
game,
Aerial
Assist™,
is
played
by
two
competing
Alliances
of
three
Robots
each
on
a
flat
27’x
54’
field
straddled
by
a
lighting
truss
suspended
five
feet
above
the
floor.
The
objective
is
to
score
as
many
balls
in
goals
as
possible
during
a
2
minute
30
second
match.
The
match
begins
with
one
10-second
Autonomous
Period
in
which
robots
operate
independently
of
driver.
For
the
rest
of
the
match,
drivers
remotely
control
robots
from
behind
a
protective
wall,
with
only
a
single
ball
in
play.
Alliances
earn
large
bonuses
for
“assists”,
earned
for
each
robot
that
has
possession
of
the
ball
in
a
designated
zone.
Robots
are
built
in
six
weeks
from
a
common
kit
of
parts,
provided
by
FIRST,
and
weigh
up
to
120
lbs.
excluding
battery
and
bumpers.
The high-tech sporting competition involves brainstorming, teamwork and mentoring. Referees oversee the contest and judges give awards for design, technology, sportsmanship and commitment. Without weapons, the games are fast-paced and competitive.
"Through FIRST, kids realize that building a robot can be fun and cool," said Rob Gorbet, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Waterloo. "It gives them very real role models, from outside the worlds of professional sports and entertainment. It's about opening their eyes to careers in math, engineering, science and technology - and it works."
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Waterloo Regional is one of a series of five FRC regionals held in Ontario. The competitions are organized by FIRST Robotics Canada, and the Ontario FRC Regionals are sponsored by BlackBerry, Bruce Power, Synnex and a number of other leading engineering and technology companies. [newsrelease]