Competition 2009

The details of the 2009 robotics challenge were revealed at the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff held on January 3, 2009 at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH. The kickoff was also broadcast live across the country on the NASA channel.

To get an idea of this year’s competitions, you can also see an animation which is posted on the NASA web site at

http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/2009_frcwebcasts.php

In Los Angeles, the kickoff was shown live on the big screen at the University of S. California, where 4 of our team members picked up our kit of parts:  motors, gears, wheels, electronics, and numerous other goodies.

Kickoff Meeting!!!!

We met on Sunday, Jan. 4th to analyse the new game and to start coming up with ideas and plans for our new robot for the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition!!

Some Competition Facts

These robots do not fight, but they do collide. Think of a football or basketball game played using robots. In 2003, they got rid of the balls and substituted 49 plastic bins weighing 5 pounds each. For 2009, we have to pick up tetrahedras and place them on goals that are 5 and 7 feet high.

The competition is based on the idea of helping to make the world a better place through science and math. One of the guiding principles is that teams help other teams, and then they compete. It is quite amazing to see.

Robot Facts

Every robot is different. They are moving, mechanical sculptures, definitely an art form. Half the fun is walking around admiring all the different creations. But then we get to see these robots interact in 2 on 2 competitions. Each robot will compete at least 7 times. A new twist was added in 2003: The robots are totally autonomous (controlling themselves) for the first 15 seconds. Then students run the robots for the remaining minute and 45 seconds of each match.