Video Slashdot Goes to the FIRST Robotics Competition (Video) 41
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FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has robot competitions all over the United States. FIRST was founded by inventor Dean Kamen. According to Wikipedia he has said that the FIRST competition is the invention he is most proud of, and he predicts that the 1 million students who have taken part in the contests so far will be responsible for some significant technological advances in years to come. In any case, Robert Rozeboom (samzenpus) was at the Michigan FIRST championship with camcorder in hand, and brought back some great shots of robots at work -- or maybe play. They fired off volleys of Frisbee-like discs, ran into each other, and climbed metal pyramids, either independently or under the control of their human masters. There was a pretty good crowd in the stands, too, to cheer on the robots. Or more likely, to cheer on the robots' human masters, since we're not yet at the point where robot masters invite their robot friends to competitions where they show off their humans.
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Re:FIRST post (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure this is not the "first" robotics competition, I don't care how loudly you shout it.
I mean, I don't RTFA any more than the next guy, but it's in the very first line of the summary:
"FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)"
Going to assuming you were being snarky...
Re:High School Students (Score:4, Insightful)
FIRST was probably responsible for 90% of my most useful education in highschool. It was that and calculus. Learning by making real things produces far, far better results.
Learning about torque in a (sadly) typical high-school physics class: memorize formula and plug values into formula for test.
Learning about torque in FIRST club: use torque calculations through various gear ratios to calculate how fast you can get up a ramp and beat the other robots there. You see the value, because you use the knowledge to make something.
Normal schooling in the U.S. seems like an attempt to disconnect knowledge from its value.
Six Year FIRST Mentor and Competition Organizer He (Score:2, Insightful)
Slashdot, FIRST is something you should be involved in. Sadly, this is probably the most demanding thing that kids do in high school. You get six weeks to solve a hard problem with NO CHANCE OF SUCCESS. I have been at more than one competition where a team showed up with a robot that was non functional or operative in any way. It is very similar to running a startup company, you need about $10,000 for a FIRST season because robots ain't cheap.
The stuff that kids play with is all real-world and they learn everything from gear ratios to wire gauges to computer programming to cost optimization to getting along as a team when a deadline looms, resources are running out and infighting and finger pointing begins. It is all such happy fun.
When people ask me to explain FIRST, I tell them it is like building the Space Shuttle with High Schoolers.
Now, here is the punchline. After 6-years of doing this I have gotten to see what the kids do next. Amazing things. They are often head and shoulders above the rest at their respective schools. They get it. They understand work ethic, team work, and how to make decisions under pressure. This kids are becoming the top employees and leaders just like Dean mentioned.
All high schools should have a program for kids similar to this. So many kids in school learn to play the game and coast on through. There is no coasting in FIRST, it is do or die trying.