2014 RoboFest in Milwaukee

[Kevin Kolodziej]

2014 RoboFest will be held once again as part of Harvest Fair at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds on Saturday, September 27th.

Competition is limited to 24 teams and we will be playing on an official FIRST field, including FMS - no communication issues this year!!

NEW to Harvest Fair this year is the addition of Maker Faire in the same hall as RoboFest! Between matches, students and mentors will be able to see some really neat creations. I hear there are some exhibits that are too large to fit inside the Expo Hall!!

Registration is now open at www.team1675.net/robofest. Cost is $225/robot for competition. Teams are welcome to enter a second robot, but if demand exceeds 24 teams, priority will be given to unique teams.

Sunday, September 28th, Harvest Fair and RoboFest continue with exhibitions. This is the perfect opportunity for grudge matches, mentor matches, and all sorts of fun stuff to show the visitors what FIRST and STEM are all about. We may even organize some skills competitions if there is interest. Teams willing to attend the competition on Saturday AND the exhibitions on Sunday will receive a $50 discount ($175 registration). Teams that cannot attend competition but are willing to exhibit on Sunday only are asked to provide $50 to help defray the costs of the playing field rental.

We'll be making a few tweaks to the game rules to help keep the matches flowing and ease the referees' jobs. We're also in need of volunteers and ask that all teams supply at least 2 volunteers to help with field reset, ball return, refereeing, and score keeping.

This is the perfect time to show new students what competition is like and give new drivers some on-field experience.

Please post here or contact me at kevin [dot] kolodziej [at] gmail.com

[Tyler Olds]

Count us in!

[Kevin Kolodziej]

We are now less than 2 months away from RoboFest 2014!

The following teams have registered:
1675 - Ultimate Protection Squad
4247 - CougarBOTS
2830 - Riverside RoboTigers
2826 - Wave Robotics
2039 - Rockford Robotics
3352 - Flaming Monkeys
2077 - Laser Robotics
4786 - Nicolet F.E.A.R.

The following teams have verbally committed but still need to officially register:
1625 - Winnovation
1732 - Hilltoppers
1259 - Paradigm Shift
2202 - BEAST Robotics
537 - Charger Robotics
3381 - Droid Rage
4531 - STEMpunk

There are several more teams that attended last year and new teams that have expressed interest but I haven't heard officially from yet. Its always hard to get responses during the summer. Its looking like we will fill our 24 roster spots so please sign up quickly! Details are at www.team1675.org/robofest

We're also looking for volunteers for referees, queuing, ball corralling, etc. Send me a PM or email as given in the OP of this thread.

Thanks, and see you soon!

Kevin

[Gutsyten42]

I look forward to this competition! I was there last year and it was a fun little event. It's nice seeing it grow this year.

[Kevin Kolodziej]

We are merely three weeks away from RoboFest 2014! Saturday September 27th is the competition and Sunday September 28th is exhibition. Maker Faire, which will be sharing Hall A with RoboFest, is going to be absolutely huge and there are some really exciting things that will be going on. You don't want to miss it!

Registration is still open for RoboFest until Tuesday, September 16th, but spots are filling fast! Go to www.team1675.org/robofest for all the details on how to register. $225 for competition only, or $175 if you're willing to commit to both days. The following teams are registered:


1 1675 Ultimate Protection Squad Both Days
2 4247 CougarBOTS Both Days
3 2830 Riverside Robotigers Both Days
4 2826 Wave Robotics Comp Only
5 1625 Winnovation Both Days
6 2039 Rockford Robotics Comp Only
7 3352 Flaming Monkeys Comp Only
8 2077 Laser Robotics Comp Only
9 4786 Nicolet F.E.A.R. Comp Only
10 930 Mukwonago BEARs Both Days
11 3418 Robo Riot Comp Only
12 4531 STEMpunk Comp Only
13 3381 Droid Rage Comp Only
14 2194 Fondy Fire Comp Only
15 3197 Hexhounds Both Days
16 3596 Rocket Robotics Comp Only

If you believe you have registered but are not on the list above, please let me know immediately! Otherwise, please get those registrations in ASAP. We have an absolute cap of 24 teams due to space constraints this year.

We're also still looking for volunteers, especially referees, scorekeepers, and team queuing. If you are interested in volunteering, please let me know!

Thank you, and we'll see you soon!

[ElvisMom]

This year's RoboFest was a blast. For the past several years it's been held in conjunction with Milwaukee's HarvestFest at Wisconsin State Fair Park. This year the venue also hosted Milwaukee's MakerFaire.

So in addition to tons of families with small children out to build scarecrows and shop for pumpkins, there was a brand new crowd of folks out to build and do at the faire. (The venue was also hosting the World Beef Expo but I don't think any of the cows or cowboys ventured down to check out the robots or makers.) The atmosphere was amazing.

Thanks to Kevin and UPS crew for hosting. Having the full FMS made a world of difference on Saturday. And glad we could come back on Sunday for the robot demos - fun to see all the kids get so excited!

[Mark Holschuh]

I'll stipulate that the event was great! The competition was good, the field issues were very few, and the bleachers were full. Thanks to Kevin, Mark, and all the volunteers who made RoboFest a success.