FRC Blog - New Subdivision Names

[cgmv123]

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-New-Subdivision-Names

As many of you know, with the increase to 600 FRC teams at the FIRST Championship this year, we have outgrown our four traditional fields. For 2105, we’ll have eight fields in the dome, and those additional four fields need names. These new names will be added to our traditional names of Archimedes, Curie, Galileo, and Newton. Each of these eight names will be used to identify a Subdivision for FRC teams at the FIRST Championship. When we transition to the FIRST Championship final matches, in which each Subdvision Winning Alliance will be competing, two of the eight fields will be renamed Einstein.

Over the summer, we began looking at potential names, gathering candidates from several sources, including a Chief Delphi thread on the topic. We then sorted through the names, recognizing that bringing more diversity to our field names would be a step in the right direction for us. The final names were then approved through Senior FIRST Management.

We’re very excited to present our new FRC field names for the 2015 FIRST Championship!

(Rachel) Carson

http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedImages/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Resources/RachelCarson.jpg

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a marine biologist, environmentalist, and educator. Her 1962 book, Silent Spring, is often cited as a catalyst for the environmental movement. She had a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a Master’s Degree in Zoology. You can learn more about her here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson).

(George Washington) Carver

http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedImages/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Resources/GeorgeWashingtonCarver.jpg

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) was a botanist, inventor, and educator. Among other accomplishments, he is credited with developing several hundred uses for peanuts and soybeans, and taught methods of crop management to low-income farmers. He had Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Botany. You can find out more about him here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver).

(Grace) Hopper

http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedImages/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Resources/GraceHopper.jpg

Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was a computer scientist, Unites States Naval Officer, and educator. She invented the first compiler for programming languages, among other ‘firsts’ in her career. She had a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Physics and Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Mathematics. Find out more about her here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper).

(Nikola) Tesla

http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedImages/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Resources/NikolaTesla.jpg

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an engineer and inventor born in what is now Croatia. He held hundreds of patents and created the first AC motor and wireless remote control. While he studied at two universities in Europe, he never earned a formal degree. Learn more about him here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla).

Frank

[Sperkowsky]

Very cool choices. I think a field name Tesla is especially cool.

[artK]

For 2105, we’ll have eight fields in the dome, and those additional four fields need names.

What'll they be named for the next 90 years?

[Koko Ed]

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-New-Subdivision-Names

It would be so cool to be assigned to one of the new fields (where my team goes is where I usually want to go but I can be flexible). I particularly would like to be on Carver.

[Nick Lawrence]

Love the names. A+.

-Nick

[Abhishek R]

It would be so cool to be assigned to one of the new fields (where my team goes is where I usually want to go but I can be flexible). I particularly would like to be on Carver.

Same, but for Tesla. It'd be really cool to be on my favorite inventor's field for my senior year, if we make it to Champs.

[KelliV]

I was really pushing for Left Shark and Beyoncé but I'm pretty happy about what was chosen.

All jokes aside... It's great to see so many women represented. I'm excited to see how things work out this year, especially with two fields transitioning into Einstein rather than having a dedicated location for Einstein play only. (Yes, I do know fll used Einstein I'm talking about FRC play)

[ATannahill]

Good choices, I like the diversity. I just wonder how often Carson/Carver will get confused due to the similarity, and Curie isn't too far off.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Definitely loving the new names. I'm a bit wary about playing on the new fields, however, because of the Carson/Carver/Hopper/Tesla Curse. I hear no alliance from those divisions has ever won championships. :rolleyes:

[cadandcookies]

Great variety for the new fields. Hopper and Tesla are great (okay, Grace Hopper is one of my personal idols), but I'm really happy that Carson and Carver were included. I think including them really says something about how important it is to use STEM skills to make a positive impact on the world socially as well as technologically. Tesla might be just plain cool, and Hopper might have been one of the greatest early computing pioneers, but Carson and Carver are the ones that stick out to me, because they both speak to the social responsibility of STEM professionals.

[Oromus]

Loving these new names! I particularly like Tesla.

[Taylor]

Good choices, I like the diversity. I just wonder how often Carson/Carver will get confused due to the similarity, and Curie isn't too far off.

I thought the same thing. A-C-G-N-E were easy to abbrev.; having A-C-C-C-G-H-N-T-E will prove to be a bit more confusing.
Also: aren't there two Einstein fields this year? Will they be E1 and E2?

[ATannahill]

I thought the same thing. A-C-G-N-E were easy to abbrev.; having A-C-C-C-G-H-N-T-E will prove to be a bit more confusing.
Also: aren't there two Einstein fields this year? Will they be E1 and E2?
I know, I memorized the field names because the initials ACGN was close to the abgn classes for wireless. Remembering the division names will be hard this year.

[adciv]

I wish Tesla was going to FTC and Franklin used in FRC instead. It would be very appropriate for the two FTC fields to be Tesla and Edison given the minor disagreement those two had in the late 19th century.

[Koko Ed]

I can start making direction signs to place at the dome entrance to point people in the right direction to their fields. A que teams should be assigned there to play traffic cop. There will be alot of teams going back and forth there all day.

[James1902]

I wish Tesla was going to FTC and Franklin used in FRC instead. It would be very appropriate for the two FTC fields to be Tesla and Edison given the minor disagreement those two had in the late 19th century.

But then the Edison field would claim all of the victorious FTC alliances, regardless of the Tesla field's contributions.

[indubitably]

Good choices, I like the diversity. I just wonder how often Carson/Carver will get confused due to the similarity, and Curie isn't too far off.

I was thinking the same thing.

Part of me wished that they would scrap Archimedes and Galileo in favor of only 2 syllable names, there are plenty:

Turing, Feynman, Euler, Hawking, Darwin, Fermi, Bardeen, Maxwell, Sagan, Tyson, Mendel, Fleming, Kepler, Hubble, Neumann

Can you guess what my major is? :D

[adciv]

Can you guess what my major is? :D

Geology?

[Carolyn_Grace]

The picture of Grace Hopper on the wikipedia article is amazing. I bet no one messed with her. Definitely my new favorite superhero.

[JamesCH95]

We liked Grace Hopper before it was cool... :p

Very excited to see our name-sake Grace Hopper as a Championship field!

[Foster]

When I was an engineer I saw Grace Hopper and her nanosecond wire talk. Very cool.


Turing, Feynman, Euler, Hawking, Darwin, Fermi, Bardeen, Maxwell, Sagan, Tyson, Mendel, Fleming, Kepler, Hubble, Neumann


I'd like to see FIRST use different names each year for the fields, keeping Einstein for the finals. So many great science, engineering and math heroes, give them all a shot.

[Taylor]

When I was an engineer I saw Grace Hopper and her nanosecond wire talk. Very cool.

Wow. Sounds like a very quick talk.

[IndySam]

This is the 60 Minuet interview that turned me onto Grace Hopper 30 years ago. (http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/grace-hopper-she-taught-computers-to-talk/)

[MrRoboSteve]

Adm. Hopper came to my 6th grade class and handed out nanoseconds. Wish my mom hadn't cleaned out my bedroom when I went off to college...

[MARS_James]

I have a big issue, with two of these fields transitioning to Einstein it gives those fields an unfair advantage to seating to watch the final matches, and the two fields will need to be next to each other and if they have them facing the VIP section like the last few years we will not be able to fit 600 teams worth of spectators to see both fields

[KelliV]

I have a big issue, with two of these fields transitioning to Einstein it gives those fields an unfair advantage to seating to watch the final matches, and the two fields will need to be next to each other and if they have them facing the VIP section like the last few years we will not be able to fit 600 teams worth of spectators to see both fields
While the "best" seats may be taken I don't see a huge issue finding seats. The EJ Dome seats 66,000. If they use half of it that is still 1/3 of the floor space it should have sight lines for roughly 26,500 (half of the seats can be filled and then subtracting 6700 for the luxury seating that is unavailable for teams) that still gives teams the ability to bring 40something people to sit with them. Some bring more, some bring less.
Thinking more it could be worse to be in those seats for divisionals, you may have to clear seats for judges and wristbands teams, so do you watch your divisional finals from prime seats, or give that up to secure the best seats for Einstein?

[rick.oliver]

... you may have to clear seats for judges and wristbands teams, so do you watch your divisional finals from prime seats, or give that up to secure the best seats for Einstein?

That would be a very nice problem to have ...

[Caleb Sykes]

I know, I memorized the field names because the initials ACGN was close to the abgn classes for wireless. Remembering the division names will be hard this year.

I always remembered them based off DNA nucleotides: ATGC, except the T was an N.

[Lil' Lavery]

I like three of the four choices. Can we please change Tesla to someone who didn't push for the elimination of undesirables (http://motherboard.vice.com/read/nikola-teslas-pro-eugenics-anti-coffee-portrait-of-the-future) from the human race?

[kAILo]

I'd love for us to qualify and get on the new Hopper or Carver Division :D

[s_forbes]

I like three of the four choices. Can we please change Tesla to someone who didn't push for the elimination of undesirables (http://motherboard.vice.com/read/nikola-teslas-pro-eugenics-anti-coffee-portrait-of-the-future) from the human race?

I think the merits of these scientists' works is what should be considered rather than a few of their ideological views. If you read that article, I highly suggest you read the source article written by Tesla that they pulled their quotes from. It's fascinating to read predictions by people from 80 years ago.

He even talks about robots:

"I actually constructed "robots." Today the robot is an accepted fact, but the principle has not been pushed far enough. In the twenty-first century the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization. There is no reason at all why most of this should not come to pass in less than a century, freeing mankind to pursue its higher aspirations."

[JesseK]

"...freeing mankind to pursue its higher aspirations."

If only we knew what those 'higher' aspirations were...

[s_forbes]

If only we knew what those 'higher' aspirations were...

Read his article and decide for yourself. I don't have an opinion on Tesla's views one way or the other, but I detest articles of the nature of "This person is good/bad because of this quote we found". Read the source material and come to your own conclusion.

[IKE]

I wish Tesla was going to FTC and Franklin used in FRC instead. It would be very appropriate for the two FTC fields to be Tesla and Edison given the minor disagreement those two had in the late 19th century.

What about moving Einstein to FTC, and having Edison and Tesla as the new E1/E2 fields.

Of course, music would be obligatory AC/DC....

[Ian Curtis]

What about moving Einstein to FTC, and having Edison and Tesla as the new E1/E2 fields.

Of course, music would be obligatory AC/DC....

It isn't fair to history to have an Edison/Tesla without a Morgan/Westinghouse (judging rooms, maybe?).

[Jon Stratis]

My team would flip if we got into Hopper. We even named a robot after her!

[jvriezen]

I was hoping for Ada Lovelace. Would be cool when our team from Byron got assigned to the Lovelace field. (Who can spot the connection first ? )

[ratdude747]

The choosing of Grace Hopper is interesting... I hope there aren't any BUGS (if you know your history, you'll get the joke). Does that mean there will be FRC libraries for COBAL now? :D

[cadandcookies]

The choosing of Grace Hopper is interesting... I hope there aren't any BUGS (if you know your history, you'll get the joke). Does that mean there will be FRC libraries for COBAL now? :D

I hope I get assigned to Hopper field. I might have to cut out some moths and hide them about the area...

[Andy A.]

My team would flip if we got into Hopper. We even named a robot after her!

Outstanding! 95 did the same in 2000. The name kept getting mangled by the field announcer into Grass Hopper, and it stuck no matter what we did. The next year people were still calling us the Grasshopper team, so we rebranded to it.

I really hope if we qualify for champs we get Hopper division.

[Bob Steele]

I like the selections but it would have been really nice if Lise Meitner had been honored. She should have won the Nobel prize for a variety of reasons not the least of which was that she was a Jewish female scientist doing work in Germany in the 1930's... didn't get the recognition she deserved.

I am happy that these four were honored as our field choices though.

[StillDefective]

Tesla PLEASE

[KarenH]

First of all, a disclaimer: I'm an English major. Whether that excuses what follows, you be the judge. :)

FRC Championship Field Names
to the tune of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

You know Carson and Tesla and Newton and Carver
Archimedes and Curie and Galileo and Hopper
But do you recall
The most famous scientist of all?

Einstein, the white-haired thinker
Had some very snowy hair
And if you ever saw it,
You’d be put off by its glare.
All of the other students
used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Einstein
Join in any spelling games.

Then one foggy darksome night,
Thoughts just came his way
Einstein with his hair so white
Did some physics, saw the light.

Then how the people loved him,
Shouted out “E and MC!
Einstein, the white-haired thinker,
You’ll go down in history!”

[Skyehawk]

I kind of want von Braun to be a field name, but you know, people get butthurt over things that were done by the individual that were unrelated to his/her brilliance.

[BBray_T1296]

I kind of want von Braun to be a field name, but you know, people get butthurt over things that were done by the individual that were unrelated to his/her brilliance.

I agree. But I'm not up in arms about who they did choose, all are respectable people

[Madison]

I kind of want von Braun to be a field name, but you know, people get butthurt over things that were done by the individual that were unrelated to his/her brilliance.


... quite a mature way of characterizing the thoughts of those that might disagree with you.

[nuclearnerd]

Hey cool, I proposed Rachel Carson in the last division naming thread (not claiming credit, but still proud to call it)
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1385417&postcount=80

[Karthik]

Here's an amazing video on Grace Hopper from Nate Silver's fivethirtyeight.com. (The best data journalism site on the internet). So freaking cool.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-queen-of-code/