FIRST Robotics Australia shares in world championship success

Students from around the world had 45 days to brainstorm, design, prototype, build and program a robot that put their mechanical, physics, programming and business skills to the test at the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) world championship. Held in St Louis, Missouri, the championship attracted more than 40,000 people and was the culmination of the 2015 FIRST season.

For the Australian teams, the journey to the championship started at FIRST’s Australian regional competition held in Sydney in March. The first regional competition to be held in Australia was a huge success attracting participants from not only around Australia but also other countries including Hawaii, Brazil, Taiwan, China and Singapore. This was followed by the regional competition in Hawaii where teams from Australia and around the world took part in the FIRST Robotic Challenge (FRC) regional event.

‘Recycle rush’, the 2015 game, was a recycling-themed game played by two alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter.

Teams from FIRST Australia were excited to achieve some unprecedented successes in the world’s largest robotic event. The Macquarie University-based team ‘Thunder Down Under’ won both the robot game and the overall Engineering Inspiration Award for outreach and community engagement in their division from a field of 76 robots representing the top FRC teams this year. This qualified the Thunder Down Under team to play in ‘Einstein’, the elite grand final competition.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the best any team has ever done in divisional play. We are the first Australian team to get this far and the only international team to play for the grand final. We were eliminated in the quarterfinals but did not get the wooden spoon at this most prestigious level. Our performance made us one of only four teams from nearly 3000 total to receive a NASA sponsorship and an automatic berth at next year’s championship,” said Michael Heimlich, CORE Professor at Macquarie University.

“FIRST has really only been in Australia for about six years, so to be able to play at the highest level (Einstein) really makes a statement about how far Australian FRC has come in a few short years,” he continued.

FIRST’s mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership.

Rockwell Automation is a key global sponsor for FIRST and is committed to encouraging students to study a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) field at university. The program gives teams the opportunity to design and build mechanical, electrical and software controls systems, as well as integrate them all into one remote-controlled machine.

The FIRST program in Australia has really taken off in leaps and bounds. Participants meet every Friday night and work through school holidays during the build season. The program encourages students to pursue education and careers in STEM-related fields, inspires them to become leaders and innovators, enhances their 21st-century work–life skills and most importantly, the kids love being involved.

A quote from Katherine Allen (aged 17), FIRST participant and member of Thunder Down Under:

“Our team achieved more than we ever thought possible at championships.

“Playing on Einstein was something that I thought I would only ever dream about. It was seriously cool to be standing on the floor of the dome, looking up at nearly 40,000 people, all watching you and your team’s robot. If someone told me five years ago that I would work on a robot in a packed football stadium, I would have told them that they were nuts!

I was down on the floor when the Engineering Inspiration award was announced. To be standing shaking hands with someone from NASA while watching the rest of my team join me on the floor was just incredible — an experience that I will never forget.”

About FIRST

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, NH, FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering. For more information, http://www.usfirst.org/.