Hargis helps with robotics competition kickoff

Thursday, January 12, 2012

(For photos of the event, click here.)

OSU President Burns Hargis and State Superintendent Janet Barresi  helped over 1,100 Oklahoma high school students and mentors kickoff the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition in Stillwater over the weekend.
 
Both leaders expressed their admiration for the teens and urged them to do their best in the competition ahead. “You are so lucky to have great mentors and great sponsors, but the most important element of your success is your commitment and your passion,” said Hargis.
 
The competition, which is sponsored in part by the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at OSU, featured the announcement of the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition game Rebound Rumble, which requires teams to use robots to score points by trying to get as many basketballs as possible in the different sized hoops featured on a game board. Each match lasts two minutes and 15 seconds and teams gain extra points by having their robots balanced on bridges in the center of the court at the end of the match.
 
Kits were distributed to create the robots with components such as motors, batteries, control systems and a PC, but no instructions. The teens will work with adult mentors over a six week time period to design, build, and test their robots before going to competition March 29-31, at the Cox Convention Center. A total of 48 teams from Oklahoma are expected to compete. In addition to regional winners and finalists, awards will be given to teams that represent and embody the goals of FIRST as well as to outstanding student leaders.
 
Last weekend’s activities also included a video launch of the 2012 competition that featured games inventor Dean Kamen joined by former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, will.i.am, and other celebrities. An estimated 60,000 people watched the broadcast worldwide. To learn more about Oklahoma FIRST, go to www.oklahomafirst.org