FRC Blog - FIRST Future Innovator Award

[cgmv123]

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...nnovator-Award

Today's blog comes from Jamee Luce, FRC Team Advocate.

Do you see yourself as an innovator? The truth is, every robot that gets created in an FRC build season is a unique innovation, so if you have built an FRC robot, then YOU ARE AN INNOVATOR!

The way we think about the solutions to each year’s game is exactly the same way that professional engineers, designers, and scientists think about the products and inventions that they develop. By thinking about a solution to an FRC game, you are thinking just like Newton, Tesla, Carson, and even Dean himself!

Why not put that innovative process to work towards some of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Engineering Challenges that will face our culture in the near future? This is exactly the question that FRC and the Abbott Fund are asking you: Why not you?

Sponsored by the Abbott Fund, the foundation of the global healthcare company Abbott, the FIRST Future Innovator Award is your chance to really think about the three challenges chosen for the Award and innovate your unique solution. Have you ever thought about how to provide clean water to the world? Or how data can improve health? What about the kind of tools that future engineers and scientists will need? The chosen Grand Engineering Challenges are:

• Access to clean water
• Advancing health informatics
• Engineering the tools of scientific discovery

The FRC Staff challenges each and every one of our FRC teams to submit an invention pertaining to one of the above topics for this amazing award! Besides the incredible opportunity to change the world with a brand new idea, you could win $5,000, plus be recognized at the 2016 Championship! You still have plenty of time to submit an idea, and it really is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Create a username here.
2. Summarize (in 100 words or less) the problem your idea solves, as well as a general idea of your innovation.
3. Provide written (no more than 2 pages) or video documenting outlining your innovation.

It’s that simple. The idea itself is more important than the quality of your written documentation or videography! Submissions are open through October 30, 2015. More information can be found here.

So, what are you waiting for?

[Nathan Streeter]

Interesting... seems like a nice concept, but I'm skeptical of anything that is piping ideas toward Dean, particularly when most people submitting for the FFIA either won't have a patent law consultant, won't have nearly as much/good patent law consulting, or won't take the time to protect their concept.

[Bryan Herbst]

Originally Posted by Nathan Streeter

Interesting... seems like a nice concept, but I'm skeptical of anything that is piping ideas toward Dean, particularly when most people submitting for the FFIA either won't have a patent law consultant, won't have nearly as much/good patent law consulting, or won't take the time to protect their concept.

The award's official page includes this:

Protect Your Innovation
FIRST strongly encourages all teams to file for patent protection by filing a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) before submitting for the FIRST Future Innovator Award.

• Additional information regarding provisional patent applications can be found at www.uspto.gov.
• Once an idea is shared through submission for this award, patent protection can only be sought in the United States and cannot be sought in any other jurisdiction, unless a provisional patent in another country has been filed before submission. (Patent laws vary from country to country, so please consult your country’s patent office or a patent professional familiar with the laws of your country to inquire about filing in your home country. The World Intellectual Property Organization provides information about the International Patent System at: http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/)
• Judges for the award will be under a non-disclosure agreement with FIRST.

It is of course not perfect, but they are encouraging applicants to think about this, and provide some information on how to learn more about protecting their ideas.

[Nathan Streeter]

Originally Posted by Tanis

It is of course not perfect, but they are encouraging applicants to think about this, and provide some information on how to learn more about protecting their ideas.

I read the more in-depth page before my previous post... I was less frustrated after reading it, but I'd certainly think long and hard before submitting an idea that I thought had real potential for success... What does submitting the idea get you? A shot at winning $5000, which really wouldn't get you very far... what might actually be helpful is the notoriety/networking brought on by winning, but this also comes with the cost of exposing the idea to Dean/DEKA/Dean's Lawyers and to everyone in FIRST.

What also makes it a little tough, is that the award is submitted on October 30, and awarded at the end of April. That means that the first 6 months of a potential provisional patent will have already gone by before the award is even given... and that's assuming that the inventor even made a provisional patent, and that it was an effective provisional patent, and that they'll be able to follow it up with a real patent that could best a potential patent from Dean (or whoever else catches wind of it that has talent, capital, and lawyers).

Anyway, I suppose I'm making a big deal out of nothing... I suspect very few ideas will be submitted and that legitimately viable submissions would be exceedingly rare. My advice though: if you think you have a viable idea and the interest/energy to run with it, either don't submit the idea or put a lot of care into your provisional patent.

[Dale]

Does anyone know what happened to this award? I didn't hear anything at the championships last week about it. We submitted for it but never heard anything either way.

[cpiravi]

Three finalists were announced before championships, and then on Friday at lunch on the Newton field they introduced the finalists and announced the winner.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by cpiravi

Three finalists were announced before championships, and then on Friday at lunch on the Newton field they introduced the finalists and announced the winner.

Anyone else find it odd that they seemingly picked a random field at lunch break to announce this?

[Dale]

Does seem like they missed a chance for good PR if they'd like this to be a bigger thing going forward. Anyone know if they are doing it again next year?

[cpiravi]

They picked Newton because out of the three groups that were selected as finalists, only one of their teams made it to champs, and that team was on Newton (3476).

[itsjustjon]

Originally Posted by cpiravi

They picked Newton because out of the three groups that were selected as finalists, only one of their teams made it to champs, and that team was on Newton (3476).

Who's 3476?

[cjl2625]

Originally Posted by itsjustjon

Who's 3476?

Code Orange, they were division winners on Newton

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by cjl2625

Code Orange, they were division winners on Newton

Woosh

For real though, I feel like FIRST could've presented this at a better time. I just happened to sit down in the mostly-empty Newton stands during lunch to transfer over match footage and saw that there were people on the field.

[Mark Sheridan]

Originally Posted by Dale

Does anyone know what happened to this award? I didn't hear anything at the championships last week about it. We submitted for it but never heard anything either way.

I don't have the full results with me but my students won runner-up. I will see if I have the full results when I get home.