IRI - (Indiana Robotics Invitational) will be July 18 & 19. IRI is probably the largest off-season event and is larger than most regional competitions. This year will be the sixth year it will be hosted by the McKenzie Career Center and held at Lawrence North High School in the Lawrence North Gym. Lawrence North High School is located on the North side of Indianapolis, Indiana.
There are tons of heavy hitters attending this event, which should make it one of the most entertaining off-season events this year. If you are in the area and are interested in learning more about FIRST, you should definitely check this event out. It is open to the public and admission is free.
If you or your team is planning on going, leave me a comment and let me know. I'll not be attending, but planning on helping host the first ever West Michigan Regional Invitational that will happen early this fall.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
2008 / 2009 President's Circle
I've been patiently waiting for something new on the FIRST World Tube YouTube site that would indicate the beginning of the 2008 President's Circle. As you may recall, my daughter and I made a video for the 2007 President's Circle, and we were initially invited to be part of their group, however I guess since we did it independent of our FRC team we were not eligible.
No worries, we'll do it again this year, 'cause you know that I am hugely into promoting FIRST.
Well, just for the heck of it, yesterday I went to the US FIRST website, to see what was new. It looks like they've posted the particulars for the new President's Circle, but didn't post it on YouTube. So, if you're waiting for a video on YouTube describing the President's Circle, the details are on the FIRST website.
Here's the details:
And it doesn't look like the winners get to go to Dean's house this year... Oh well, maybe next year.
No worries, we'll do it again this year, 'cause you know that I am hugely into promoting FIRST.
Well, just for the heck of it, yesterday I went to the US FIRST website, to see what was new. It looks like they've posted the particulars for the new President's Circle, but didn't post it on YouTube. So, if you're waiting for a video on YouTube describing the President's Circle, the details are on the FIRST website.
Here's the details:
This year’s challenge asks you to put the power of advertising to work for FIRST. Here’s how it works:
Develop an Internet Ad
- Teams should develop a 30 or 60-second video/TV ad that will persuade students to start a FIRST team. What do you think is the right message to convince students to start FIRST teams?
- Your ad should be targeted to the audience you’re trying to persuade to start a FIRST team. For example, if you’re an FLL team, target your ad to FLL-age kids; FRC teams target their ad towards high-school students, etc.
Post Your Ad on the FIRST You Tube Channel by November 1, 2008
- Please title it “
Team 2008 President’s Circle” (please include your program and team number in the title of the ad, e.g. "FRC Team 5017 2008 President’s Circle"). Get Your Ad Placed Everywhere
- Work with local broadcast media to get your ad placed as Public Service Announcements (PSAs).
- Be creative in getting your ad as much exposure and visibility as possible.
- More visibility means more new FIRST teams.
- A panel of FIRST judges will decide the best video/TV ads.
The winning videos will be announced and shown at the 2009 FRC Kickoff on Saturday, January 3.
And it doesn't look like the winners get to go to Dean's house this year... Oh well, maybe next year.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Just Science
Okay, since I veered off topic with my last post I'm going to go even further off topic but to something that I think is very import. Today one of my favorite authors, Brian Greene, had an Op-Ed in the New York Times. Brian is the author of 2 excellent books, "The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos". I have been a fan for many years and I did have the opportunity to see Brian give a speech a few years ago.
Today, Brian's Op-Ed is about the state of science in our country / culture. I could try to give an overview, but he is such an eloquent writer, just go read it. <- that was the link, now go read it!
Today, Brian's Op-Ed is about the state of science in our country / culture. I could try to give an overview, but he is such an eloquent writer, just go read it. <- that was the link, now go read it!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Robots not FIRST
I've been faithful to only blogging about FIRST related robotics, however since FIRST is in a slow period right now, I'll blog about something a little different.
This past weekend NASA landed Phoenix on Mars. If you are not aware, Phoenix is on a mission to discover water ice on Mars and maybe any evidence of life or that life may have existed there at one time.
Phoenix landed near Mars' north pole on Sunday May 25 and I watched NASA TV for all the coverage. There weren't any immediate video signals, the only way they knew what Phoenix was doing was based on radio signals received at JPL. It was awesome when they had confirmed Phoenix had safely landed. During EDL, (Entry, Descent and Landing) NASA TV played lots of animations of what the spacecraft was going through and what it needed to do to land. This was great, but it still left me wondering what it was really like. I wanted real pictures. It took an hour or so and a few black and white pictures began to come back from Phoenix. The pictures showed that the spacecraft had opened it's solar panels properly and showed the horizon. They were beautiful; simply stunning!
Today, even more spectacular images came back, but not from Phoenix. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) which is orbiting the red planet snapping pictures of everything it sees, saw the landing site for Phoenix. Check out this picture. It clearly shows the landing site / Phoenix, the parachute and backshell and the discarded heat shield. If you think about the image a little, it looks like Phoenix approached from the lower left side of the image (maybe about 4:00 or 5:00). It dropped it's heat shield and let go from the parachute. A wind directly from the top of the picture blew the chute down and even dragged the backshell through the Martian soil. At the top of the image is Phoenix with a small blast area surrounding it from it's retro rockets that gave it a soft landing.
Lastly, an image came back from Phoenix that is very cool. Check out this picture. This is the Phoenix lander, you can see one of it's solar panels, an American flag, and what looks like an audio CD. It's actually a DVD, and inscribed on this DVD are the names of people that visited the Phoenix website before it launched. You could sign up and have your name burned onto this DVD, which is exactly what I did for myself and my kids. Our names are on this DVD and will be on Mars for a long time. If you look carefully, the title is "Messages from Earth - 2007".
If nothing FIRST related happens soon, I may write more about cool robot stuff happening elsewhere.
This past weekend NASA landed Phoenix on Mars. If you are not aware, Phoenix is on a mission to discover water ice on Mars and maybe any evidence of life or that life may have existed there at one time.
Phoenix landed near Mars' north pole on Sunday May 25 and I watched NASA TV for all the coverage. There weren't any immediate video signals, the only way they knew what Phoenix was doing was based on radio signals received at JPL. It was awesome when they had confirmed Phoenix had safely landed. During EDL, (Entry, Descent and Landing) NASA TV played lots of animations of what the spacecraft was going through and what it needed to do to land. This was great, but it still left me wondering what it was really like. I wanted real pictures. It took an hour or so and a few black and white pictures began to come back from Phoenix. The pictures showed that the spacecraft had opened it's solar panels properly and showed the horizon. They were beautiful; simply stunning!
Today, even more spectacular images came back, but not from Phoenix. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) which is orbiting the red planet snapping pictures of everything it sees, saw the landing site for Phoenix. Check out this picture. It clearly shows the landing site / Phoenix, the parachute and backshell and the discarded heat shield. If you think about the image a little, it looks like Phoenix approached from the lower left side of the image (maybe about 4:00 or 5:00). It dropped it's heat shield and let go from the parachute. A wind directly from the top of the picture blew the chute down and even dragged the backshell through the Martian soil. At the top of the image is Phoenix with a small blast area surrounding it from it's retro rockets that gave it a soft landing.
Lastly, an image came back from Phoenix that is very cool. Check out this picture. This is the Phoenix lander, you can see one of it's solar panels, an American flag, and what looks like an audio CD. It's actually a DVD, and inscribed on this DVD are the names of people that visited the Phoenix website before it launched. You could sign up and have your name burned onto this DVD, which is exactly what I did for myself and my kids. Our names are on this DVD and will be on Mars for a long time. If you look carefully, the title is "Messages from Earth - 2007".
If nothing FIRST related happens soon, I may write more about cool robot stuff happening elsewhere.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day
Since it has been a month from my last post, I'll take a few minutes today to write a brief update.
First off, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day. If you haven't already, please take a moment and remember someone who bravely served our country so that we could be free.
Over the last month our robotics team had a few meetings and we wrapped up the season with a potluck dinner a couple weeks ago. Our potluck dinner was very nice; we awarded and thanked a ton of people.
Today our team marched in the Memorial Day Parade, however I didn't attend. It was a beautiful day and I hope those that did attend had a great time.
I've been monitoring the FIRST YouTube website, waiting for the announcement for this year's President's Circle contest. I haven't seen anything posted yet, but when I do I'll be writing about it.
First off, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day. If you haven't already, please take a moment and remember someone who bravely served our country so that we could be free.
Over the last month our robotics team had a few meetings and we wrapped up the season with a potluck dinner a couple weeks ago. Our potluck dinner was very nice; we awarded and thanked a ton of people.
Today our team marched in the Memorial Day Parade, however I didn't attend. It was a beautiful day and I hope those that did attend had a great time.
I've been monitoring the FIRST YouTube website, waiting for the announcement for this year's President's Circle contest. I haven't seen anything posted yet, but when I do I'll be writing about it.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Dean Kamen on ABC News
A couple of days ago ABC News interviewed FIRST founder Dean Kamen.
His very inspiring interview can be seen by following this link:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4729231&affil=wabc
If you are unfamiliar with FIRST, please take 6 minutes and watch this interview. Because, "it is working".
Please post any comments or questions.
His very inspiring interview can be seen by following this link:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4729231&affil=wabc
If you are unfamiliar with FIRST, please take 6 minutes and watch this interview. Because, "it is working".
Please post any comments or questions.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
NPR Coverage of FIRST
Yesterday the NPR talk show "Talk of the Nation - Science Friday" did a story about robotics. They included a great interview with Dean Kamen (the founder of FIRST) and one of the members of the "Thunder Chickens" (one of the winning teams from Atlanta). They also had on the show other computer and robotics professionals. It turned out to be a great discussion.
You can hear the entire interview by following this link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89942783
Science Friday is a great show, I've been a listener for many years now. It was about 6 months ago when they asked for listeners to add their own videos to the Science Friday website. My daughter had just created an outstanding video about FIRST, which you can view on my YouTube site if you follow this link. We submitted it to Sci Fri and it took them about 3 months to actually post the video online. Even though it took them forever, in the end I was extremely happy about having her video on their site. I heard via email from the Science Friday staff that they liked our video and were happy to have it on their site.
Apparently they liked FIRST a lot because they've created their own video. Unfortunately, it looks as though they've removed our video and replaced it with theirs. At any rate, they did an excellent job. You can watch the NPR video at this link: http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10100
Anything that will keep FIRST in the news is a good thing in my book.
You can hear the entire interview by following this link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89942783
Science Friday is a great show, I've been a listener for many years now. It was about 6 months ago when they asked for listeners to add their own videos to the Science Friday website. My daughter had just created an outstanding video about FIRST, which you can view on my YouTube site if you follow this link. We submitted it to Sci Fri and it took them about 3 months to actually post the video online. Even though it took them forever, in the end I was extremely happy about having her video on their site. I heard via email from the Science Friday staff that they liked our video and were happy to have it on their site.
Apparently they liked FIRST a lot because they've created their own video. Unfortunately, it looks as though they've removed our video and replaced it with theirs. At any rate, they did an excellent job. You can watch the NPR video at this link: http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10100
Anything that will keep FIRST in the news is a good thing in my book.
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