[FRC Blog] FedEx Innovation Challenge

Posted on the FRC Blog, 4/23/14: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-FedEx-Innovation-Challenge

FedEx Innovation Challenge

Blog Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 17:17

See some exciting information below from FIRST Strategic Partner and FRC Crown Supplier FedEx:

Your team could win $10,000 in the FedEx Innovation Challenge

Hashtags and robots and prizes – oh my!

This year at *FIRST *Championship, there’s some new fun thrown into the mix for FRC and FTC teams.

Your team can participate in the FedEx Innovation Challenge, an interactive competition that will take place Thursday, April 24 – Friday, April 25. The Innovation Challenge is open to teams competing in the 2014 *FIRST *Robotics Competition (FRC) Championship and the *FIRST *Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship. A grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded to one FRC Team for use towards their future FIRST initiative!

Part problem solving, part creative challenge, this fun and engaging competition will consist of math and science problems, scavenger hunt activities, photo ops, FedEx innovation trivia and more. Best of all, it’s easy to play! Participating teams are required to submit responses in the form of a photo using either Twitter or Instagram. All responses will be judged on the accuracy of the answer, creativity of the response and the level of team participation and spirit.

As a FIRST supporter since 2002, FedEx has made it possible for teams all over the world to participate in the *FIRST *experience. Playing a key logistics role, FedEx is responsible for delivering a kit of parts, which contains the essential parts for building an FRC robot, to every FRC team. They are also responsible for moving all of the FRC robots to and from *FIRST *Championship. You know how much shipping weight that is? Here’s a hint, it’s north of 11 million pounds annually each *FIRST *season!

Get in the game! Visit the official home of the Innovation Challenge. The competition begins Thursday, April 24 at 7:00 AM. Tell your team about it today!

It’s nice that FedEx is doing this, I was just sort of disappointed that it is limited to teams competing in worlds only.

Still, points to FedEx for being generous and working with FIRST.

We didn’t really have the extra hands to participate, but props to FedEx for clearly putting a chunk of effort (and a chunk of dollars!) towards this endeavor.

Question is, who won?

According to the FedEx Innovation Challenge website, the winners were FRC Team 1305, Near North Student Robotics Initiative (Ice Cubed), and FTC Team 3781, Pi-Rho Maniacs. Congrats to both!

It was 1305 Near North Student Robotics Initiative in Galileo.

1305 was in Newton not Galileo.

Ah yes my mistake. We had a nice talk to one of their mentors who happened to be who found our trailer when it was stolen from Champs in 2010 and I thought they were our division