Minnesota FIRST Regional




Minnesota Teams Put Promotion FIRST May 15, 2008 Minnesota FRC teams are in production with promotional videos, a great tool teams can use to solicit sponsors, recruit new teams, and share information about FIRST. Here are links to two great examples of videos recently released, one by KingTeC and the other by Blue Twilight! Team 2169- KingTeC’s is a comical introduction to FIRST, nicely narrated by team member Taylor Passofarro. Watch the Video... To find the marketing video produced by Team 2220-Blue Twilight, scoll down to the bottom of the home page of their award-winning website. Watch the Video... Dean Kamen in the Twin Cities May 3, 2008 Dean Kamen, world-renowned as an entrepreneur and inventor but best-known to FIRST Robotics members as the tireless advocate for all things science and technology, was the keynote speaker at the 2008 Science & Technology Banquet, hosted annually by the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology. See Photos... 2220 brings FIRST to State Capitol May 3, 2008 Eagan’s Team 2220-Blue Twilight made quite an impression at the Minnesota State Capitol as its “Broominator” swept through the corridors of the statehouse. Read More... See Photos... Minnesota Teams at the Championships April 29, 2008 It was an exciting weekend for FIRST, and for Minnesota FRC teams in particular, as the FIRST World Championships rocked Atlanta’s Georgia Dome April 17th -19th. Among the 340-plus robotics teams in attendance, an all-time high of four hailed from Minnesota, an indication of how explosive FIRST growth has been recently in the state. Read More... Mentor and Leader Forum April 12, 2008 FIRST Robotics mentors and leaders, please plan to join your fellow mentors for an evening of lively post-competition discussion. In 2007, a very successful post-competition meeting covered what worked, what didn't, and teams’ plans for the summer and fall. Once again, we'll hold a forum for team leaders and mentors: Monday, May 5, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Room 3-230 in the Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Building, University of Minnesota campus. This is an open discussion with only moderate structure, so bring your ideas. Questions? Contact Mark Lawrence, mark56821@aol.com. U of M IT Video April 13, 2008 Next time you’re attending a game at the University of Minnesota, or watching a game on the Big Ten Network, be sure to keep an eye out for FIRST robotics! The U-M’s Institute of Technology, which co-sponsored the FIRST Minnesota Regional in March, put together a video that captures the sights and sounds of the inaugural FRC event. Quicktime Video Flash Video Lego League Takes Center Court at Williams Arena April 12, 2008 High Tech Kids is sponsoring the inaugural FIRST Lego League International Open at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena, May 1 - 3. In addition to coming out to watch, a great way to support this event is for FIRST Robotics team members and mentors to volunteer. Complete event information is available by going to the High Tech Kids website. FIRST Minnesota Regional March 29, 2008 Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in the inaugural FIRST Minnesota Regional, which concluded Saturday March 29 after three intense days of competition, excitement, and gracious professionalism. The effort that everyone put forward in organizing, volunteering, competing, and attending made it a truly memorable first-FIRST regional! Read More... See Photos... WCCO-AM on STEM in Minnesota March 23, 2008 News-talk station WCCO-AM will run a series of reports discussing issues relating science, math and technology education in Minnesota schools. These reports begin March 24th as a lead-in to the Minnesota FIRST Regional on March 27th. These segments will detail the need for increased emphasis on math, science and technology education, and link this pressing need back to the efforts of organizations such as FIRST to inspire and stimulate young peoples’ interest in science and technology careers. More on WCCO-AM... FIRST on Almanac Friday, March 21 March 20, 2008 Tune in to TPT-Channel 2 this Friday March 21 at 7 PM as Joe Passofaro, head mentor of FIRST Team 2169-King TeC, will be on during the "Almanac" program. Passofaro will talk about FIRST Robotics and upcoming Minnesota FIRST Regional. To see the Almanac segment on the FIRST Robotics competition, visit this Web site and type in FIRST Robotics in the Search Box and it should come up.

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL FIRST MINNESOTA REGIONAL WEBSITE!

Attention Teams!

If you have any photos from Minnesota FIRST events, such as Kickoff, Splash, the Scrimmage at Simley, the Regional, and would like to share them, please register for an account on the photo gallery. When registering, please put your team number as your username. Be aware that you will get an error page and not be able to log in immediately and post photos for security reasons. Registration confirmation will happen after a day or two, and you will be free to upload your photos after that.

FIRST Overdrive, this year’s game challenge, is based on the simple concept of robots racing around a 27’ x 54’ carpeted circular track. For every lap around the track each member of a three-team alliance completes, points will be added to that team’s score. Complicating matters are the four, 40-inch diameter, almost eight-pound inflatable “Trackballs” that start the match elevated 78 inches above the field on girders (the Overpass). These Trackballs can be knocked off their starting position on the Overpass, pushed around the field, and then lifted or hurdled back over the Overpass for eight points or rolled underneath for two points. Alliances that have their Trackballs firmly on the Overpass at the end of the game. The Trackballs’ inclusion in Overdrive certainly makes things a lot more interesting for teams and their robots.

Further complicating matters this year is the introduction of a new control scheme, called supervised autonomy. Replacing the true autonomous mode of previous years’ competitions, this fifteen-second “hybrid” period allows teams to either use a purely autonomous approach or mix in several preprogrammed routines that allow remote control of the robot during the phase. This hybrid period is followed by a two-minute, tele-controlled period, during which human players drive the robot using joysticks or other controllers.

Minnesota Teams Put Promotion FIRST

Dean Kamen in the Twin Cities

2220 brings FIRST to State Capitol

Minnesota Teams at the Championships

Mentor and Leader Forum

U of M IT Video

Lego League Takes Center Court at Williams Arena

FIRST Minnesota Regional

WCCO-AM on STEM in Minnesota

FIRST on Almanac Friday, March 21

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL FIRST MINNESOTA REGIONAL WEBSITE!

Attention Teams!