This year’s competition, dubbed Lunacy, has a moon theme. Robots will compete on a 27′ by 45′ field, called the crater, with a floor surface and wheels that simulate the low friction conditions experienced on the Moon’s 1/6 gravity (relative to Earth) surface. Each robot is fitted with a trailer and the objective is to put as many moon rocks (balls) into the opposing team’s trailer as possible.
The FRC, as well as other competitions sponsored by FIRST, is an amazing event that provides young minds with the confidence, experience, and the joy of participating in engineering and scientific endeavor. FIRST was founded by Dean Kamen who, among other things, is designing the prosethetic arm we reported on earlier. If you have some spare time, they can never get enough adult mentors.
Below is a video of the inspiring intro movie from the kickoff presentation, followed by an animated video of the Lunacy competition: