Concerning foriegn teams
 

I'm a former robotics member from the US, and I've been interested in forming a FIRST robotics team in my high school in Japan. I've already seen that many students here have great potential as a team member, but I have yet to see the tools and the workspace, among a myriad of other concerns.
I'd like to hear how the few British and South American teams have come to hear of the FIRST organization and how they managed to make the entire experience work out for them. I'm particularly interested in FIRST's policy concerning foriegn schools entering their organization, as well as how much time, money and people it took to make it happen.
I'm also interested in what FIRST's aim was in the beginning and what it is now. Specifically, Dean Kamen once stated that the FIRST organization was formed to change the culture and society of America. And although many consider this to be normal, many members here have only thought about FIRST reaching out to more high schools and organizations in the US and about reaching a larger National recognition. Not all of us have said/posted these things, and most of those that say it probably have never thought of FIRST as a truly international organization. It's been over ten years since this organization began and the number of teams that has been involved in FIRST has grown from 20 to over a thousand. Has FIRST's vision evolved into something that can be shared on a global scale? Is it possible that FIRST can become an International league of smarts? Or is it too early? Is there a cultural, social and environmental barrier between America and other major countries? Will putting things on a larger global scale discourage local teams to participate?
Please keep in mind that I have not posted an opinion but a topic.

Re: Concerning foriegn teams
 

Hi,

Great to hear we may have some more international teams in the near future. :)
First, how we got to know FIRST:
The principal of our school was on a conference at Arthur Andersen in Europe, and Dean Kamen was one of the speakers. Nobody really knows the specifics, but he was obviously speaking about FIRST and she got interested. Upon talking to him, he seemed a bit surprised but gave her some contact information and, bang, we're here. :D
She went out to contact FIRST and they gave us some really good advice, including a great team to mentor us (23 from Plymouth, MA). Mr Phil Benevento, a member of that team came to Brazil in 2000 (rookie year) and helped us raise the team. We were in a situation similar to yours, it appears, as all we had was a portable drill and some screwdrivers. Needless to say, that was one expensive year to us. (advice: buy quality stuff and you won't visit the store for a while :P)
We had all the sorts of problems rookie can get, plus 5000+ miles away from every other team. The following years were a lot more succesful, and now we've got a pretty established team.
The hardest part is to get sponsors, but I think it'll be a little easier for you in Japan. Oh, about the workspace: we build the robot during the summer vacations, so we just move from robotics room to a regular, larger classroom. :)

That really is a bit odd; In speeches, you'll probably hear FIRST is for America. However, talking to their founders/CEOs/Big bosses in person, you see that they want it to spread to the world, with more teams and even "international regionals". Still, we're a long way from that. The change from USFIRST to FIRST kinda proves that. Anf if it doesn't, at least they show us some respect. j/k :D

I believe that FIRST is eager to embrace those outside of the US. Being from Canada I can see the effort that FIRST puts behind us. Last year we were over 40 teams and this year I hear maybe 60. The Canadian Regional will this year be the largest that FIRST has except Championships. From what I have experienced there are no boundaries with FIRST. Good luck starting a team. In a few years you could have the Japan Regional.

If that happened, I would be one of the happiest FIRSTers ever :)

FIRST's view has shifted from National to International over the past few years, so I hope you can get a team started there!!

It would be interesting to see how the concept of FIRST would translate into the culture of Japan.

Many new teams dont 'get it' in their rookie year, and focus on building a winning robot, and worry about things like 'what kind of image will our team portray for our corporate sponsor.

After teams have been around for a year or two, they realize FIRST is not a robot building contest - its not a contest at all - its a way to introduce HS students to engineering, to give them firsthand experience of what its like to BE an enginner

The only goal of FIRST is to inspire students to pursues careers in science and technology.

I have no doubt that FIRST would love to see the program catch on in countries all around the world. When one group of people advances the state of the art of technology, people benefit everywhere.

But as you alluded to, the business and social culture in Japan is very different than it is in the US - I can picture a company like Sony putting a hundred engineers on the team, designing a state of the art machine to win the championship - thinking that is what FIRST is all about

you can always tell which teams dont 'get it' yet - its the ones with adults yelling at the students in the pits, or after loosing a match :c(

another thing to consider - it would be extreemly expensive for a team from Japan to travel to the chamionship in Atlanta, Georgia. If FIRST teams do spring up in Japan it would be more cost effective if several teams were created at once, and a regional were held in Japan

whenever you have a choice of spending more money on one team, or creating more teams, I always vote for more teams.