I can tell you that the atmosphere on Saturday at the ‘Mother of all Kickoffs’ in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA was electric. And at the end of game reveal, there were cheers and applause all around. I think I may have even heard a few Champagne corks being popped, though that seemed to be coming from the corner of the bleachers where the FRC Staff was sitting.
From the reaction I’ve seen in the community so far, we may have a winner!
Field Reset
Hello teams, hope everyone had a great Kickoff! We'll have more to say about Kickoff in a later blog, but last night I got in an email from Ian Curtis, Mentor from Team 1778, Chill Out, that I wanted to respond to quickly.
Share your FIRST Story Part of the vision of FIRST is to positively transform culture by inspiring young people, their schools, and communities to appreciate and celebrate science and technology. The stories of our students, Mentors, Sponsors, teachers, parents, and Alumni clearly demonstrate that FIRST is about more than robots. It is a life-changing experience – and a lot of fun!
We invite you to share your FIRST story. (You must be 13 years or older to submit a story.)
Some of the ways FIRST may use submitted stories include the e-Newsletter, Annual Impact Report, FIRST Championship Conferences, public relations outreach, social media, videos, fundraising appeals, and grant applications.
9,328,490,238,209
This is a number Haley Dunn, FIRST PR and Social Media Specialist, posted in this tweet. She intended it to be random, ridiculously large number, not some kind of game hint, though some folks on a few forums think it is a game hint. It’s not. But I expect for some people, me saying it’s not a game hint will be taken as conclusive proof that it actually is a game hint. But it’s not a game hint.
82,152
I wasn’t particularly cool in high school, though I wasn’t exactly un-cool either. Successfully crossing the boundaries between the jocks, brainiacs, and the student council kids, I made it through mostly unscathed. Being a national champion powerlifter, ranked number 2 in my class, and winning student body President on a platform of “Change” afforded me a semi-safe haven in this liminal state between cool/un-cool. Of course, I wanted to be cool; who didn’t in high school?
We’re using today’s blog to tell you about three juicy pieces of information from the Robot section of the Game Manual and the Kit of Parts.
First, R14. R14 – Software and mechanical/electrical designs created before Kickoff are only permitted if the source files (complete information sufficient to produce the design) are available publicly prior to Kickoff.
So, if you already have a design, and you want to use it this year, post it publicly now.
Second, Motors.
Dr. Meagan Pollock is the Director of Professional Development for the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity. In this role, Meagan leads a national team of equity professionals that build educators’ capacity to implement effective solutions for increasing student access, educational equity and workforce diversity.
Before turning her focus on the intersection of education and equity, Meagan worked as an engineer for Texas Instruments. Meagan was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and she holds a PhD in engineering education from Purdue University, a MS in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, and a BS in computer science from Texas Woman’s University. As an engineer turned educator, Meagan is focused on engineering equity into education.