Fifty-three teams battled it out on Saturday at the Boston regional edition of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, a robot-building contest for high school students celebrating its 20th anniversary season year. The nonprofit behind the competition was founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen.
Each year, student teams get a robot parts kit and a fixed amount of time before the showdown to build their machines. The robots are built to compete in a game created by FIRST that often contain elements of other sports like basketball (2009’s games) and soccer (last year’s competition). In this year’s game, “Logo Motion,” the robots earned points for student teams by hanging as many triangle, square, and circle balloon pieces in the playing field as possible, with bonus points going to the robot that could hang the pieces to form the FIRST logo. Student teams had the chance to score additional points by designing and building a “mini-bot” that could race to the top of a vertical pole. Three robots and high school teams partnered on each side (a “coopetition”), as part of FIRST’s mission of fostering both a sense of healthy competition and teamwork.
Below is a list of the winners who will be competing in the FIRST championships in St. Louis, MO, later this month. Full details can be found here
Winner 1—Team 88, Bridgewater, MA
Winner 2—Team 1099, Brookfield, CT
Winner 3—Team 78, Newport County, RI
Engineering Inspiration Award winner—Team 1100, Northboro, MA
Rookie All Star Award winner—Team 3466, Westford, MA
Regional Chairman’s Award winner—Team 246, Boston, MA
