What does the Chairman’s Award have to do with a robot contest?

Competition FIRST Impact Award
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What does the Chairman’s Award have to do with a robot contest?

Don’t get me wrong, I think winning this award is a noble accomplishment. It deserves great celebration and recognition. It definitely demonstrates a teams commitment to spreading the word of FIRST and we all know that FIRST needs to nurture that, but should a team get a lifetime entitlement to the robot competition for this (or any other criteria for that matter)?

I think not.

I want to base my opinion on 2 points :

For all of the years that I’ve been involved with this program, there have been 3 separate competition areas involved (robot, chairman’s award, and animation). Never before has the outcome of one area been a factor in the other. Why now? Should the winners of the animation award be entitled?

The idea that only one team per year is worthy of such an entitlement given the vast amount of effort that teams put in to this is inconceivable to me. Each year, when the finalists are read, I know that any one of them (and probably many more) are equally worthy. Even the judges state each year how incredibly hard it is to pick a winner.

So why interject so much controversy into solving the problem of overcrowding?

I suspect most of us could live with the rules, even the even/odd thing, if the entitlements were dropped. To me, they just hint of favoritism, which stretches the ability of at least some of us to look at one another as equal partners in a worthy cause.

I just simply think that the robotics contest should be based on the robotics and the skills of the players. Simple as that ……

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"Teams automatically qualify to register for the current year in the following ways:
a. All former Chairman’s Award winners (1992-2001)
b. Prior two years Chairman’s Award finalists (2000 & 2001) "

Teams who were Award winners and finalists:
2001
Chairman’s Award 22 Boeing-Rocketdyne/ Computer Associates/ Decker Machine/ Fadal Engineering & Chatsworth HS North Hills CA
Chairman’s Award Finalist 1 3-Dimensional Services & Oakland Technical Center, Northeast Campus (OTC-NE) Pontiac MI
Chairman’s Award Finalist 47 Delphi Automotive Systems & Pontiac Central HS Troy MI
Chairman’s Award Finalist 65 GM Powertrain & Pontiac Northern HS Pontiac MI
Chairman’s Award Finalist 175 UTC/ Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International/ Techni Products & Enrico Fermi HS

2000
Chairman’s Award Winner:
Team 16 - Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, AR)
Chairman’s Award Finalists:
Team 47 - Delphi Automotive Systems & Pontiac Central High School (Troy, MI)
Team 22 - NASA Ames Research Center/AVG Inc./Decker Machine/Boeing/Rocketdyne/Amgen/California State University -Northridge & Chatsworth High School (Chatsworth, CA)
Team 175 - UTC/Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International/Techni Products & Enrico Fermi High School (Windsor Locks, CT)
Team 1 - 3-Dimensional Services & Oakland Technical Center, Northeast Campus (OTC-NE) (Pontiac, MI)

1999
Chairman’s Award Winner:
Team 120 - NASA Lewis Research Center / TRW, Inc./ Battelle Memorial Institute & East Technical High School (Cleveland, OH)
Chairman’s Award Finalists:
Team 16 - Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, AR)
Team 123 - New Venture Gear, Inc. & Hamtramck High School (Troy, MI)
Team 175 - UTC/ Hamilton Standard Space Systems International / Techni Products & Enrico Fermi High School (Windsor Locks, CT)
Team 67 - General Motors Milford Proving Ground & Huron Valley Schools (Milford, MI)

1998
Chairman’s Award Winner
Team 23 - Boston Edison Company & Plymouth North High School (Plymouth, MA)
Chairman’s Award Finalist #1
Team 16 - Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, AR)
Chairman’s Award Finalist #2
Team 67 - General Motors Proving Ground & Milford High School/Lakeland High School/Harbor High School (Milford/Highland/White Lake, MI)
Chairman’s Award Finalist #3
Team 108 - Motorola, Inc. & Dillard High School (Plantation/Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Chairman’s Award Finalist #4
Team 120 - NASA Lewis Research Center/TRW, Inc./Battelle Memorial Institute/The Illuminating Co. & East Technical High School (Cleveland, OH)

1997
CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
Delphi Interior and Lighting Systems & Pontiac Central High School (Troy, MI)
CHAIRMAN’S AWARD FINALISTS
Baxter Healthcare Corporation & Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, AR)
&
Boston Edison Company / University of Massachusetts Dartmouth & Plymouth North High School (Plymouth, MA)
&
Raytheon E-Systems, Inc. & Greenville High School (Greenville, TX)
&
University of Wisconsin-Platteville & Platteville High School (Platteville, WI)

1996
Chairman’s Award
Procter & Gamble Company & Walnut Hills High School (Cincinnati, OH)
Chairman’s Award Finalists
Baxter Healthcare Corporation/Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, AR)
Boston Edison Company & Plymouth North High School (Plymouth, MA)
E-Systems, Inc. & Greenville High School (Greenville, TX)
Texas Instruments & Gunter High School (Dallas, TX)
Xerox Corporation & Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School (Webster/Rochester, NY)

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I think we sometimes forget that FIRST is not just about building robots. Its purpose is to educate and inspire young people in the field of science and technology. The Chairmans award recognizes those teams that take that to heart–Teams that go out of their way to get others interested in engineering.

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I don’t see the problem here, FIRST encourages cooperation more than competition. Although the competition is great, and I love it, when you step back and look at the big picture you can see a WHOLE lot more than just a “robotics competition” :smiley:

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Looks to me that it is the same 6 or 7 teams each year that are either the winner or the finalists of the Chairman’s Award.:confused:

Guess that means it is only a handful of spots being taken up at the Championship.

Hopefully, this year with the expanded version of the chairman’s award (at each Regional) we will see some new names added to this list.

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Hi all!

This year, I was the editor for our team’s Chairman’s Award. I’m pretty proud of the way it turned out.

Win or lose, it was fun putting the award together. It gave me an opportunity to really meet my team members. I learned more about them, their interests in FIRST, and it gave us an opportunity to become friends.

I’m all smiles…and we’re having a lot of fun.

So, what does it have to do with a robot contest? Well, teamwork, dedication and friendship have a lot of play in all factors of life, including a robot contest.

Maybe we’ll win, maybe we won’t. But we’ve all made friends, and had a good time. In the end, that’s more important than an award, don’t you think?

Good luck everyone!

Damian “Chip” Eveland
#171 - Platteville, Wisconsin

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You know, I think one of the reasons FIRST extended it into regionals is to try and get rid of this idea that only certain teams can win it. I mean, I totally agree that in years past it’s only been certain teams, but I hope for that to change. Maybe I’m just hopeful because I pretty much did ours this year.

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sorry to get a bit off-topic, but speaking about the winners, do any of these teams have their winning submissions online? I’d like to see what exactly is considered demonstrating the spirit of FIRST. It’s one thing to talk about it, it’s another to actually see it

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If you look at the list of chairman’s award winners and finalists and winners you will see the most of them also usually have spectacular robots (1,47,65). I think that is a demonstration of a well-rounded team that deserves recognition.
I believe the chairman’s award and the animation to a lesser extent allows the FIRST program to be very broad. We have people on our chariman’s team that probably couldnt pick a hammer out of a line-up and we have people on our animation crew that probably couldn’t spell anmation. (Yeah, I know I spelled that wrong and I’m just kidding about it anyway.) What I am trying to get at is that the chairman’s award is about more than showing FIRST how we have spread the message and about more than the build crew throwing together a presentation in two days just to have a submisison. It is about getting more people involved that aren’t necessarily interested in the down and dirty robot building.

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*Originally posted by SuperDanman *
**sorry to get a bit off-topic, but speaking about the winners, do any of these teams have their winning submissions online? I’d like to see what exactly is considered demonstrating the spirit of FIRST. It’s one thing to talk about it, it’s another to actually see it **

I believe the team that won the award two years ago or last year did it by converting their previous robot into a motorized wheelchair for a team member in need. I thought that was pretty awesome and while maybe not really “spreading the message” of FIRST it is possibly one of the best demonstrations of the the “sprit of FIRST.”

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It always seems to amaze me that few people actually know what FIRST is about. FIRST is not just a robotics competition and if that is what people think then I feel sorry for those people. FIRST stresses community involvement and volunterism. Chairman’s Award spotlights a team’s accomplishments outside of competition because FIRST is not all about COMPETITION. My team (Technkats 45) has taken a very important part of our community. We have a Bona Vista Project for our community. Bona Vista is a local community resource center. It also helps those with mental and physical handicaps. The Technokats developed equipment for those small children who are physically handicapped, that equipment helps them to develop their muscles. We also do a Ball Drop at New Years’, we perform during half time at local basketball games, and we also do many other things that make our community aware of who we are and what we do. Our town realizes that we are not just a robotics team and FIRST is not just a robotics organization. FIRST wants each team to do community services and Chairman’s Award explemifies each teams’ community works. That is why it is such a prestigious award.

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FIRST-

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I nspiration
and
R ecognition
in
S cience
and
T echnology

I believe that that expains it right there. This competition was not created with the goal of making robots that defeat their opponents… it was created to get teenagers interested in Science and Technology. Which it has done quite well, considering that there are 999 teams this year. That sheer number has made them limit the attendees at the National Competition in Orlando.

Now I am NOT saying that I agree with all of the rules about who goes to nationals… I believe that any team who wants to, and can raise the funds, should be abile to go.

-DUCKY-

PS- I know it is a kind of goofy idea, but couldn’t they set-up a second ‘National’ at Disney in California? That would allow more teams to compete - and lower travel costs for any west-coast teams-.

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*Originally posted by DUCKY *
**PS- I know it is a kind of goofy idea, but couldn’t they set-up a second ‘National’ at Disney in California? That would allow more teams to compete - and lower travel costs for any west-coast teams-. **

This idea was mentioned in another thread, and it was brought up that due to the much smaller side of Disneyland in CA, that there would be no real place to set up the event…

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Perhaps Disneyland itself has no facilities to host the event, but surely there are arenas in the area which could host the event. The team party could still be at Disneyland.
If there were two National events, then FIRST could have a Super-National in New Hampshire where the two champions battle it out. Only the two competition teams and their pit crews would need to attend, with their travel costs paid by FIRST.

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*Originally posted by Bill Enslen *
**Only the two competition teams and their pit crews would need to attend, with their travel costs paid by FIRST. **

This statement I disagree with entirely. There is no precedent that I know of anywhere in any sporting-style event where the organizers of the event pay for the teams to travel to the event. If FIRST was to do this, the costs would have to be covered somewhere, which would mean that there would be some fee implemented across the board to cover these expenses. Keep in mind that we are talking complete travel expenses for 6(perhaps more in the future) teams…FIRST was trying to prevent some teams subsidizing the expenses of others when implementing the $75 per person event fee for nationals participants booking outside of a provided package…taking funds from all teams to cover the expenses of a select few would be a step backward in my opinion.

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OK, Nate, how would you propose to settle the eventual discussion about which robot was the National Champion, if there were two National Events?
My reasoning for FIRST to pick up the travel costs of the National Champion competition teams and their pit crews was that by the time a team finishes competing in Nationals, their budget is totally spent. The cost of 72 team members (12 from each of the six National Champion teams) would be less than $75,000, assuming a sufficient amount of time elapsed between Nationals and the Super-National. With FIRST having a surplus of $800,000 last year, that amount could easily be absorbed.
An alternative could be to stage the Super-National from the previous year at one of the two Nationals the following year. Any takers on that one?

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I’m not sure about that one either…

As much work that is put into these robots, most of them won’t last any longer then 75 rounds. I know that by the time our competitions are over, and we finish doing all of our PR work with taking the robot around and doing demonstrations, the robot only works at about 25-50% efficiency in comparison to the robot at it’s best.

I know that our team isn’t a national winning team…yet…but I’m not sure that even all of the national winning teams could have their robot last that long if they go through what teams like ours do.

Maybe we just are rough on our robot…

But this isn’t the point. I think that part of the fun of a national competition is getting to see all the teams, east coast AND west. I would be sad to see this opportunity be lost because of a successful program…

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Adam, You make a very good point regarding the robots’ ability to function at peak form past the Nationals.
In another thread, someone from the Detroit / Pontiac Michigan area suggested using the Silverdome for the National Competition. Perhaps we should be looking for a site that can accomodate all the teams that want to attend, and keep it to a single event.
Nate, what do you think about moving the event away from Disney?

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*Originally posted by Bill Enslen *
**Adam, You make a very good point regarding the robots’ ability to function at peak form past the Nationals.
In another thread, someone from the Detroit / Pontiac Michigan area suggested using the Silverdome for the National Competition. Perhaps we should be looking for a site that can accomodate all the teams that want to attend, and keep it to a single event.
Nate, what do you think about moving the event away from Disney? **

I would have no problem with moving the event to a larger locale, but the fact remains that FIRST wil always continue to grow. When FIRST has come to every highschool in the ocuntry, do you still propose that we attempt to find an arena big enough? It will never work, Bill. There is no way that every team can continue to compete agains every other team in the country, so we may as well try to find a solution now, IMNSHO

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Amy,
What we are seeing this year is FIRST’s first attempt at keeping the National competition a single event while limiting the size of the event. What I believe FIRST was trying to do is to allow every team the opportunity to experience the National Competition and also have the best robots from the Regional Events be there. That isn’t working out so well this year, as at least one Regional Champion team (157) doesn’t have the money to go to National.
I know it would increase the cost of participation for every team, but perhaps the “prize” for winning a Regional would be for FIRST to pick up the costs for sending a 12-member competition team and pit crew to National. This would ensure that all of the Regional winners were able to compete at Nationals. For some teams (not ours) this would be a the only way they could ever hope to go to National, because they simply don’t have the funds to travel. There are some very good teams out there with very limited funding.
Those are my ideas. Others are free to (and will) disagree.
Bill