FIRST Robotics Competition

 

Derek had to be at school at 6:30 Saturday morning to meet his school robotics team. They were headed downtown to compete in the Peachtree Regional of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Derek has really enjoyed being on the team and has worked hard with many long days after school and on weekends.

FIRST is a national organization started by Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway and many other things). The FIRST Robotics Competition is a national competition. There is also a state FIRST organization. There are a number of regional events that lead up to a national competition. Derek's team was competing in the Peachtree Regional with other teams from all over the south and even a team from Mexico City. Derek's team did well, but didn't win any awards. It was a lot of fun.

The rest of us headed down to the competition at a more reasonable hour

Adam climbing the stairs at the Peachtree Center MARTA station

Blue dome of the Hyatt Regency in the background

Westin Peachtree Plaza

Pitty Pat's Porch

SkyView Ferris Wheel

Centennial Olympic Park

Georgia Aquarium in the background

CNN Center

Georgia World Congress Center

Derek and some of his team were heading out to lunch as we were entering: queue the slow motion walk montage

The competition was a lot more than I expected. People were really into it. There were mascots and big cheering sections with people doing some intricate choreographed routines. It was a lot of fun.

Every year the competition is different. This year the robots had to gather and throw big balls at targets in a game called Aerial Assist. Teams are put into a bunch of alliances with each alliance made up of 3 teams. 2 alliances compete against each other at time. There are several rounds and after each round the alliances are randomly realigned.

It all leads up to the finals where the top 8 teams get to pick other teams for their final alliance. There is all kinds of cheering during the final alliance selection process. At first teams seemed to be choosing other teams based on scores alone and I wondered why even bother with all the formality. Derek's team was hopeful since they finished about top 20. Then the selections started to get kind of crazy with low scoring teams getting picked. Later we found out that the more savvy teams pick other teams based on complimenting skills rather than scores.

In the "pits" where each team has their own work area

Derek's team robot

Helen's school has a really good team

Some of the teams have really elaborate setups

Practice area before the finals

A line dance to get the crowd going before the finals

Derek is ready to get home after several long days