High School Students to Compete at Indiana State Championship

INDIANA – Indiana High School robotics teams are fine-tuning their robots after advancing to the state championship from their respective district events. The teams will battle each other for a few coveted positions representing the state of Indiana at the World Championships in late April. Huntington North High School will be transformed for the competition April 7 & 8.

After six intense weeks of robot designing and building, and three previous district competitions, students, parents, teachers, and industry professionals will meet a final time to compete to decide who will go to the world championship. The State Championship will be in Huntington Indiana April 7th-8th at Huntington North High School. As part of the FIRST® Robotics Competition this is the final Indiana event where High School age robotics teams can qualify for the World Championship Event held later in April.

Competition at this State Championship Event will be fierce since the results will be the determining factor for World Championship qualification. Going into the State Championship Event the IndianaFIRST district leader is Cyber Blue from Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis Indiana and they lead with 128 district points. Pike RoboDevils also from Indianapolis Indiana is ranked second with 103 district points, and Team Hammond from Hammond Indiana is ranked third with 101 district points.

The atmosphere of a robotics competition is markedly similar to a basketball game; fans decked out in spirited clothing, constant cheering, and the moments of euphoria when a team scores just before the buzzer rings. It’s a truly incredible experience for all involved.

Members of the media are welcome to interview students, coaches and mentors. Please contact our media team to schedule interviews and photo/video opportunities.

EVENT: Indiana State Championship, High School Robotics Competition
WHERE: Huntington North High School, 450 McGahn Street, Huntington, IN 46750
WHEN: April 7-8, 2017 – Friday and Saturday
ADMISSION: No charge and open to the public
LIVE STREAM: http://www.indianafirst.org/

Schedule:

Thursday, April 6, 2017
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm- Pits Open, Inspections, Practice Matches

Friday, April 7, 2017
8:00 am – 10:30 am – Pits Open, Practice Rounds, Inspections
10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Invited Guest Event
10:30 am – 11:00 am – Opening Ceremonies
11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Qualification Matches
12:30 pm – 5:00 pm – Sponsor & Scholarship Tables Open
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Lunch
2:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Qualification Matches
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Team Social
8:00 pm – Pits Close*

Saturday, April 8, 2017
8:00 am – Pits Open
8:30 am – 2:00 pm – Scholarship & Sponsor Tables Open
9:00 am – 9:30 am – Opening Ceremonies
9:30 am – 12:15 pm – Qualification Matches
12:15 am – 12:30 pm – Cross-Program State CMP Recognition
12:30 pm – 1:00 pm – Alliance Selections
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Lunch
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Final Rounds
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Awards Ceremony
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Winning Alliance & Cultural Award photos
7:00 pm – Pits Close*

*Schedule subject to change. All times are estimated based on flow of rounds. See Pit Administration table for updated times.

Sponsor Information

This event wouldn’t be possible without support from the following 2017 FRC® Indiana State Championship Sponsors & IndianaFIRST State-Wide Sponsors: AndyMark, UTEC, Rolls-Royce, Huntington City, Renaissance Electronic Services, University of Indianapolis, 80/20, Inc., Bendix, PHD, Inc., Huntington University, Parkview (EMT), Software Engineering Professionals, Rarebird, Pace Chevrolet, Dow AgroSciences, MTD, Apollo Casters, Continental Structural Plastics, Huntington County Economic Development, Mark & Anita Wickersham, Allfuses.com, Allied Automation, Barnes & Thornburg, Cook, Cargill, 4-H, Amazon, Our Sunday Visitor, Lime City Committee, Raytheon, & Homeadvisor.com.

Special thanks to our Huntington Experience Food booths, Antiqology, Berg, JB’s, Nick’s Kitchen, PartyShop, & Sugarmamas, who are giving us a “taste of Huntington” this weekend!

Game Description

FIRST® STEAMWORKS℠ the 2017 FIRST® Robotics Competition game, invites two adventure clubs from an era in which technology relied on steam power to prepare their airships for the ultimate race.

Each three-team alliance adventure club prepares to take flight in three ways:

1. Build Steam Pressure. Robots collect fuel represented by green balls. They score it in high and low goals in their boiler. As fuel is scored steam pressure in the tank on the alliance’s airship builds – the high goal builds pressure faster than the low goal.
2. Start Rotors. Robots retrieve and deliver gears to pilots on their airship who then install them on the appropriate rotor. Once a gear train is complete the rotor can be started.
3. Prepare for Flight. Adventure clubs want their robots to climb aboard their airships so they can assist the pilots during the race.

Autonomous Period: Robots operate independently from programmed instructions for the first 15 seconds. Adventure clubs autonomously score points by:

• Reaching their baseline
• Delivering gears to the airship
• Scoring fuel into the boilers

Each match begins with a 15-second autonomous period in which robots operate only on programmed instructions. During this period, robots work to support the three efforts listed above and also get points for crossing their baseline.

Teleoperated Period: Operators take control for the final two minutes and fifteen seconds. Adventure Clubs continue to score points by:

• Collecting and delivering gears to their airship
• Scoring fuel in the boilers
• Climbing the ropes on their airship to prepare for flight
• Populating gear trains to start rotors
• Defending against other Adventure Clubs

During the remaining 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the match, the teleoperated period, student drivers control robots. Teams on an alliance work together to build as much pressure and start as many rotors as possible, but they have to be sure they leave enough time to latch on to their airship before the end of the match.

The adventure club with the highest score at the end of the match is best prepared for the race and wins. Alliances are seeded in the Qualification tournament using ranking points which are awarded based on a combination of their Win-Loss-Tie record (2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie), the number of times they reach a 40 kiloPascal (kPa) pressure threshold (1 point), and the number of times they start all rotors (1 point).

LINKS

Team Rankings for IndianaFIRST District posted at this link: http://frc-districtrankings.firstinspires.org/2017/IN

Detailed event information. This includes team list, rankings as event proceeds, detailed match schedule, and qualification results posted at this link: http://frc-districtrankings.firstinspires.org/2017/IN/INCMP

STEAMWORKS℠ Game Animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMiNmJW7enI

About The Game FIRST® STEAMWORKS℠ http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/game-and-season

LIVE STREAM: http://www.indianafirst.org/

2017 Indiana State Championship Team List posted at this link: http://50.196.210.225/IndianaFirst/sce/TeamList.pdf

2017 Indiana FIRST State Championship Schedule posted at this link: http://50.196.210.225/IndianaFirst/sce/2017_IndianaFIRST_State_Championship_Public_Schedule.pdf

Additionally here is a link to some story angle ideas for coverage of these robotic competitions.
Story Angles For Robotics Competitions: http://50.196.210.225/IndianaFirst/wde/StoryAngleForRoboticsProgram.pdf

LOCATE TEAMS IN YOUR AREA http://www.firstinspires.org/team-event-search

FIRST FAQ posted at this link: http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/resource_library/first-faq-dec16-2.pdf

FIRST Press Room posted at this link: http://www.firstinspires.org/about/press-room

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, who introduced the IBOT Mobility System and the Segway® Human Transporter (HT), FIRST was created to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools, and their communities. The FIRST® Robotics Competition anticipates over 3,100 teams in the U.S. and 24 countries worldwide to compete in 53 Regional Events and 65 District Events. Thousands of students will compete at the district, state and regional events to earn a spot at the World Championship to be held April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO.

“FIRST isn’t about competing, it’s about cooperating, and recognizing that if you have the right tools, you’ll be able to make this world a better place for yourself and for the country,” said Dean Kamen, president of DEKA Research and Development and FIRST® Founder, adding, “There is no stimulus package that will have as much return as stimulating a bunch of kids to become the workforce of the future, the problem solvers, the creators of the future.”

This season, participating FIRST® students are eligible to apply for more than $50 million in scholarships being made available by nearly 200 scholarship providers.

About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST® designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $25 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. for Grades K-3. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST®, go to http://www.firstinspires.org/.

About IndianaFIRST
IndianaFIRST is an organization dedicated to growing FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics programs in the state of Indiana. FIRST® is a multinational non-profit organization that aspires to transform our culture, making science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for kids as sports are today. Founded in the fall of 2001 as the Indiana-based affiliate of FIRST®, IndianaFIRST brings FIRST® programming to students in grades K-12, teaching them hands-on skills in engineering, science, and technology that they can relate back to their class work. Kids compete against other kids in district, state, and world championship competitions in what is frequently called “The Super Bowl of Smarts.”