ideals in FIRST robotics competitions worth copying

[Ken Leung]

Here is a theoretical question I've been wanting to ask for a long long time.

Imagine another group is trying to come up with a competition. It could be a robotics competition, or other technology related competition... Now, imagine them wanting to be as successful as FIRST and have similar impacts in their participants...

What are some of the things you think they should copy from FIRST? What I am really looking for are some of the ideology that FIRST promote, the best things that teaches the participants a lot about life and growing up. I don't want to list anything right now because I want to see some obvious answers first... And I will narrow my question down a little bit as we goes on with the discussion.

Thanks .

[nerdcool64]

I think the most obvious answer is...Gracious Professionalism, however there are many more. I think FIRST promotes an unmatched level of learning. It brings Students and professionals together to build something still veiwed in our culture as extremely advanced...robots. It teached students skills that will get them ahead in life. I think another competition would want to mirror this level of learning as close as possible.

[Jupee]

Originally posted by nerdcool64
I think FIRST promotes an unmatched level of learning....It teached students skills that will get them ahead in life. I think another competition would want to mirror this level of learning as close as possible.

I totally agree. Through FIRST, students learn so much more than how to build a robot; they aquire skills that will allow them to advance beyond their peers in terms of teamwork, responsibility, cooperation, and a myriad of others. It is amazing how much a person's participation in FIRST can shape his/her character. And one of the greatest things about FIRST is the stories that people relay about how the experience has changed their lives. The things in those stories are what you want a similar competition to bring to the individuals involved.

[Joe Matt]

I think that GP is something only FIRST can use. Dean and Woodie are the source of GP in FIRST. Although we live it and use it, they are the 'mothership'. I think the idea worth copying would be a place where everybody is accepted and has the same rights as vet teams. A rookie frosh is in the same position as a drive as a veterain team senior.

[Jupee]

I thought more about this, and I think another really awsome thing about FIRST can be summed up by what Dan, the Wildstang operator, said when they won nats: "I built that!" I mean, the feeling of satisfaction you get knowing that something you created can perform such unbelievable tasks is amazing.

[Ken Leung]

Ok, thanks for the initial responds.

I guess what I am really trying to do is... If I really want to start up some other competitions, what's some of the best stuff I could copy from FIRST.

Imagine high school competitions for bio engineering like genetics, or chemical engineering, or EE and CS type of competition. Heck, it doesn't even have to be engineering. Just imagine there will be more FIRST like competition around the country, getting students enthusiastic about their subject through competition environment.

So, what I am really asking is, what makes FIRST so successful that could possibly be copied to another event?

I am not trying to start another thread about What's so good about FIRST, or what you like about it, etc... I think I've come to a point where I am consider doing things outside of FIRST, possibly making more impact on people other than the teams I've worked with. So, I would appeciate it if people will help me think about this.

Thanks!

[Daniel Brim]

I would say they should have something like the Chairman's award, which rewards the best team, not in competition, but outside of it. This has raised FIRST's standards, but if another organization wants to do the same, this is my recomendation.

[WakeZero]

Ken, it has to be exciting

What draws so many students to FIRST is when they see other students their age get excited about something as 'geeky' as robotics. The first thing that pops into their heads is, "Hey, maybe being smart is cool"

One of my favorite quotes from the past 4 years would have to be, "This isn't you fathers science fair" and Dean, Woody and the rest of the FIRST gurus really make that statement true, year after year

[DougHogg]

Originally posted by Ken L
If I really want to start up some other competitions, what's some of the best stuff I could copy from FIRST.

Imagine high school competitions for bio engineering like genetics, or chemical engineering, or EE and CS type of competition. Heck, it doesn't even have to be engineering. Just imagine there will be more FIRST like competition around the country, getting students enthusiastic about their subject through competition environment.

So, what I am really asking is, what makes FIRST so successful that could possibly be copied to another event?

Aspects of FIRST that make it successful and that could be copied to another type of event:[list=a]
FIRST is very hands-on oriented. You have to actually create something, not just answer questions.

FIRST has elements of art because all the robots are created from scratch and they are all different. I think every robot is a moving mechanical art form, and I see people walking around taking pictures of all the robots and just admiring them for their creativity and ingenuity.

FIRST involves competitions between teams which is exciting. Which design and strategy will win?

The matches themselves are an art form in the sense that people get enjoyment from watching the interaction of the 4 machines to see what will happen.

Another very creative aspect of FIRST is the fact that the game designers create a new game every year, and we are all held in suspense as we await the details of the new competition.

FIRST involves a number of subjects: electrical, mechanical, computer science, strategy, pneumatics, public relations, finances, promotion, fundraising, art, drafting, CAD, animation, web design, etc., so there is something of interest to people with many different interests.

The FIRST Robotics Competition teams students up with mentors, teachers and parents, and they all work together as team members. As far as I know, that is unique.

FIRST Teams often involve apprenticeships where students are working with professional engineers. I think apprenticeships are an excellent addition to education, because the student is able to fully interact with the professional in producing something, as opposed to just listening to a teacher in a class with time only for occasional questions. Further, I have heard of students on FIRST teams going on to apprentice at a sponsoring company, which gives the student additional first-hand experience.

FIRST requires teams to form alliances with other teams, which results in lots of inter-team communication, so we get to know lots of great people.

The concept of gracious professionalism helps to raise the competition to a much higher plain than the other high school competitions I have observed.

FIRST has lofty goals so team members feel that they are doing something worthwhile:
1) Inspiring students to higher achievement in science and other fields by allowing them to experience the excitment and satisfaction of using their knowledge.
2) Inspiring students to make the world a better place.

FIRST actually is making a difference. Due to their achievements in FIRST, many students are becoming more interested in careers involving math and science, computers, the internet, writing, animating, designing, publishing, etc. [/list=a]
The bottom line is, in FIRST, students actually use their knowledge to create real things in the real world, and as a result, they gain actual skills that are highly valued in our society.

[Brian Yip]

Our team has 4 Stanford Mentors who came over and designed a robotics game called HALF. This game is solely for our team, designed to help the team members get some experience in building their robot out from scratch using extrusions and motors for FIRST robotics.

I think Gracious Professionalism is an important element in all kinds of teams. No matter what team you set you, you need GP. One thing I believe is also very important is the enthuasism of the team members. For example, animators organize animation competitions or CG design competitions. As senior members of the teams, we have to pass on what we know to newcomers, so they will rock with you /for you.

[SkitzoSmurf]

VARIETY!!!

In FIRST there are many different aspects to be accomplished in those first 6 weeks. These include the robot, the chairman's award, the animation, and the scholarships, and awards such as the woodie flowers award. So basically the robot gives you everything from mechanical to electrical skills, and the chairman's is all about presentaiton and video, and the animation with advanced computer skills. Then you bring in the essays and everything like that, and that let's the word smith's creative juices get flowing, and everybody's brain expands about ten times over. I've said it once and I'll say it again. The average person uses 10% of their brain. I think that FIRST makes the participents use the other 90% just thinking about FIRST, I mean really, take all your memories in life, what stands otu the most. It's FIRST isn't it. So I think they need to have ingenuity, variety, and creativity. And they need to be catchy, has to be fun, and exhilerating.

[Alfred Thompson]

I would say the real partnership between students and mentors. It's a lot more then coaching. IT is also a real world experience. So the tight deadline would have to be part of it as well.

The Chairman's Award is a good idea as well.

I would love to see a CS version of FIRST. Autonomous mode has a chance to have some of that but I would love to see a real CS project version as a stand alone.