Winners of global robotics competition announced

Four teams have been crowned winners of the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Championship, which had a recycling-themed focus for 2015.

More than 18,000 students from around the globe met in St. Louis to test their engineering skills throughout the four-day event. The competition ended April 24, when four out of 900 participating teams won the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Winning Alliance.

The winning teams were: Team 118, Robonauts, League City, Texas; Team 1678, Citrus Circuits, Davis, Calif.; Team 1671, Buchanan Bird Brains, Clovis, Calif.; and Team 5012, Gryffingear, Palmdale, Calif., of the Newton Subdivision.

For 2015’s recycling-themed game, Recycle Rush, student robotics teams took to the field, where competing alliances scored points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing waste. In keeping with the recycling theme of the game, all game pieces used were reusable or recyclable by teams in their home locations or by FIRST at the end of the season.

FIRST Founder Dean Kaman urged students to inspire the world and to use what they’ve learned from their FIRST mentors and coaches as a tool, saying, “Don’t leverage your experience here as a privilege but rather a responsibility. We expect you to go off to college and give; go off to industry and give. Figure out how to reach people who are not already your friends or your neighbors. Get a little out of your comfort zone and help us bring a more diverse community to FIRST.”

FIRST President Donald E. Bossi said, “What you kids in all FIRST programs are able to achieve in a short a period of time is truly astounding. I am overwhelmed by the amount of teamwork you display and the results you deliver.”

Among the participants, numerous U.S. and international FIRST student robotics teams earned honors for design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website design, teamwork and partnerships.

A nonprofit organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST inspires young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

The next FIRST Competition is scheduled for April 27-30, 2016, in St. Louis. To view additional competition results for the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, visit www.usfirst.org.