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Pittsburgh Regional

12-03-2010 to 13-03-2010

6y 320d 14h 55m ago

Announcing the Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition
Friday March 12 - Saturday March 13, 2010
Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus
Opening ceremonies: 11:10AM on Friday 3/12 and 8:15AM on Saturday 3/13
Robotics Workshops: 9AM-4PM, both Friday & Saturday.
All events are free and open to the public.

(FIRST = For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)

On March 12-13, over 625 high school students in 31 FIRST Robotics teams will compete in BREAKAWAY, the 2010 FIRST original game using 120-lb robots they constructed and programmed in just 6 weeks.

Our ten local teams (listed below) will be joined by teams from across the state as well as those from Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Canada.

This year’s game, BREAKAWAY, presents unique challenges that have posed some real learning opportunities for students as they designed, programmed, and built their robots to navigate around the field and over steep humps, "kick" a ball into a goal beneath a target that is detected by the robot, and even to hang from an elevated bar.

Speakers at the opening ceremonies will include John Bares, Director of the National Robotics Engineering Center, on Friday, and Audrey Russo, CEO and President of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, on Saturday.

What’s unique about FIRST robotics competitions? For the final rounds, three teams form an alliance to compete against an alliance of three other teams. So, while competition is fierce, teams are watching out for each other, too. Teams help each other do their own personal best, and even help fix each other’s robots when things go wrong. During the game, the focus is on achieving goals while keeping each other’s robots together. FIRST trademarked new terms to help describe this: “Gracious Professionalism” and “Coopertition” (see http://usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=36). Winning teams qualify to compete in the world championship in Atlanta (April 15-17).

In addition to the excitement of the competition, the Petersen Events Center Lobby will showcase great demos and hands-on robotics activities.

Google, our "Captain of Innovation" Sponsor for our event, will have a display about Google Sky.

Robotics workshops will include two working robots that students can drive, plus a “Please Touch Museum” for elementary, middle, and high school students to learn about many parts (such as pistons, motors and switches) used to build robots. Created and run by The Firebirds, an all-girls robotics team from Flourtown, PA, the workshops will run from 9AM-4PM on both Fri & Sat (see flier, attached).

Data Science Automation is sponsoring and running “5th Gear”, an interactive computer simulation of the same BREAKAWAY game that’s being played by the robots in the arena. Sounds cool? Give it a shot! Lockheed-Martin developed the software, and is providing tools to be awarded as prizes for this tournament.

Wonder what it’s like to ride a Segway? Segway of Western PA will have a demo for people to ride.

Interested in joining or starting a FIRST robotics team at your school? Many enthusiastic team members, leaders, mentors, and volunteers will be on hand and happy to talk with you. Just ask any of the 100 or so folks wearing a “FIRST Volunteer” shirt.

Please pass along this info to anyone, especially those with school-aged children who might be interested in seeing some robots up-close-and-personal!

We are grateful for the generous support of The Heinz Endowments and Google that makes this competition possible.

About FIRST and FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition, for high-school-aged students)

FIRST is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization devoted to helping young people discover and develop a passion for science, engineering, technology, and math.

Dubbed a “varsity sport for the mind,” FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It’s as close to “real world” engineering that a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

“…It’s like life. There's never enough information. Never enough time. There's always competition and you need a strategy. We’ve created a microcosm of the real engineering experience.” -- Woodie Flowers, FIRST National Advisor

High-school students get to:
- Learn from professional engineers
- Build and compete with a robot of their own design
- Learn and use sophisticated hardware and software
- Be exposed to design, project management, programming, teamwork, strategic thinking, and Coopertition(TM)
- Earn a place in the Championship
- Qualify for close to $10 million in college scholarships

“FIRST isn’t about robots, it’s about developing life skills. The partnership between academia, community and industry…will build future employees and future citizens.”
-- Steve Sanghi, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Microchip Technology Inc. and Member of FIRST Board of Directors

Supported by a strong network of sponsors and volunteers, participants win recognition, gain self-confidence, develop people and life skills, make new friends, and perhaps discover an unforeseen career path.

"To create a world where science and technology are celebrated…where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes." -- Dean Kamen, Founder


For more information, please visit www.usfirst.org, or www.pittsburghfirst.org.

Pittsburgh region's ten local teams:

Team 117 Allderdice High School
Team 1708 McKeesport Area High School and Technology Center
Team 1743 City Charter High School
Team 2051 A.W. Beattie Career Center
Team 2279 Butler County Area Vo-Tech School
Team 2618 Shady Side Academy
Team 2641 Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School
Team 2656 Gateway High School
Team 3062 St. Joseph High School (Natrona Heights)
Team 3260 Sarah Heinz House

Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition
Schedule

Friday, March 12, 2010
8:00 AM: Practice Matches
11:10 AM: Opening Ceremonies
11:30 AM: Competition Begins
5:15 PM: Awards Ceremony

Saturday, March 13, 2010
8:15 AM: Opening Ceremonies
8:45 AM: Competition Resumes
12:00 PM: Alliance Selections
1:15 PM: Finals Tournament
4:30 PM: Awards Ceremony

The Pittsburgh Regional competition will be streamed live at the Pittsburgh FIRST Web site, www.pittsburghfirst.org, and the Steel City Robotics Alliance, www.steelcityrobotics.org.

For event info, see: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...ts.aspx?id=430 and scroll down to see Pittsburgh Regional; or go to www.pittsburghfirst.org.

I hope that you will be able to join us!

Life's Best,
Patricia DePra

************************************************** *********
Patricia DePra, Ph.D.
FIRST Regional Director - Western PA
(412) 512-4302 pdepra@usfirst.org

Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition
Petersen Events Center, March 12-13, 2010
pittsburghfirst.org

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
www.usfirst.org
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