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FIRST Hosts 20,000 Students at World's Largest Robotics Contest
Iowa Ag Connection - 05/02/2016

This past week, more than 20,000 students from around the globe traveled to St. Louis, putting their engineering skills to the test at the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, held at various venues throughout the city.

The four-day event came down to a heart-pounding conclusion Saturday night in front of a roaring crowd of more than 40,000 when four teams from Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Tremont, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Glen Allen, Va. of the Carver Subdivision won the coveted FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Winning Alliance. In this year's game, FIRST STRONGHOLD, Alliances worked together to breach their opponents' fortifications, weaken their tower, and capture the opposing tower. Robots scored points by breaching opponents' defenses and tossing boulders through goals in the opposing tower. During the final 20 seconds of the match, robots were allowed to surround and scale the opposing tower to capture it.

In all, over 20,000 students, ages 6 to 18, participated in FIRST Championship events in St. Louis.

Among the participants from around the globe, many earned honors for design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website design, teamwork, and partnerships. A not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST inspires young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

In St. Louis, more than 900 teams from 42 countries competed in the four FIRST programs: FIRST LEGO League (grades 4 to 8, 9 to 14-year-olds in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; 9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico); FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 7 to 12, 12 to 18-year-olds); and FIRST Robotics Competition (grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18). In addition to the high-energy robotics matches, 60 teams of 6 to 9-year-olds participated in the FIRST LEGO League Jr. (grades K-3, ages 6-9), World Festival Expo.

The 2016 winners of the competitions are as follows:

Winners of the Dean's List Award included:

From FIRST Robotics Competition:

-- Brenden Barbour, Team 3284, Camdenton 4-H LASER, Camdenton, Mo.;

-- Zarya DeSouza, Team 3494, Quadrangles, Bloomington, Ind.;

-- Chenelle Foster, Team 5830, The Irrational Engineers, Lanham, Md.;

-- Mitchel Huang, Team 503, Frog Force, Novi, Mich.;

-- Shikhar Jagadeesh, Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, San Jose, Calif.;

-- Shanatanu Jakhete, Team 180, S.P.A.M., Stuart, Fla.;

-- Brandon John, Team 3061, Huskie Robotics, Naperville, Ill.;

-- Autumn Luna, Team 3250, Kennedy Robotics, Sacramento, Calif.;

-- Shaqeeb Momen, Team 1241, THEORY6, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada;

-- Jessa Westheimer, Team 118, Robonauts, League City, Texas

From FIRST Tech Challenge:

-- Andrew Dornbier, Team 7220, The Block Heads, Garner, Iowa;

-- Colleen Johnson, Team 3595, Schrödinger's Hat, Fairbanks, Ark.;

-- Luz Moreno, Team 9547, Panthers, San Antonio, Texas;

-- Juwon Packer, Team 4886, RoboJunkies, Midland, Texas;

-- Knut Peterson, Team 7129, Robo Raiders, Troy, Ill.;

-- Anshuman Radhakrishnan, Team 4855, Batteries in Black, Portland, Ore.;

-- Sanjna Ravichandar, Team 6037, W.A.G.S., Princeton Junction, N.J.;

-- David Sargent, Team 5395, Team Clutch, Mustang, Okla.;

-- Phoebe Spear, Team 6081, i2robotics, Westport, Conn.;

-- Anika Yardi, Team 8121, RMageddon, Rockville, Md.

FIRST Robotics Competition combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to fundraise, design a brand, exercise teamwork, and build and program robots to perform tasks against competitors.

Approximately 78,500 students on 3,140 teams from 24 countries competed during the 2016 season.

Other FIRST Robotics Competition Awards included:

Championship Finalists

Tesla Subdivision

-- Team 2056, OP Robotics, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada

-- Team 1690, Orbit, Binyamina, HaZafon, Israel

-- Team 3015, Ranger Robotics, Spencerport, N.Y.

-- Team 1405, Finney Falcons, Penfield, N.Y.

FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams build robots from a reusable kit of parts, develop strategies, document their progress, and compete head to head. This year's game, FIRST RES-QSM, is modeled after rescue situations faced by mountain explorers. Two Alliances with two robots each score by "resetting" rescue beacons, delivering rescue climbers to a shelter, parking on the mountain, and parking in the rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal.

Approximately 51,500 students on 5,158 FIRST Tech Challenge teams competed during the 2015-16 season. The 2015-16 FIRST Tech Challenge Sponsors include Official Program Sponsor, Rockwell Collins; Official IoT, CAD & Collaboration Software Sponsor, PTC; and Official Control System Sponsor, Qualcomm.

The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Inspire Award, recognizing excellence in robot design and teamwork, went to Team 7013 Hot Wired from Portland, Ore. The Winning Alliance was Team 5916, BoBots, Earleville, Md.; Team 8221, CUBIX^3, Hampstead, Md.; Team 6022, TBD-To Be Determined, Aurora, Ohio.

FIRST LEGO League introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by conducting research projects and building LEGO-based autonomous robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FIRST LEGO League teams, guided by their imaginations, discover exciting career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society. This year's challenge, TRASH TREKSM engaged 233,000+ kids on approximately 29,000 teams to explore the hidden world of trash, from collecting to sorting to smart production and reuse.

Top honors went to Champion's Award 1st Place winner, Team 23, The Incredibots, Columbus, Ohio; Champion's Award Finalist, Team 22993, Mechatronic Ants, Pamplona, Spain; and Champion's Award Finalist, Team 23005, Tic Tac Toe, Beirut, Lebanon

For a full list of FIRST Championship winners and awards, visit www.firstinspires.org.


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