More Robotics Wins FIRST Robotics Wisconsin Regional Chairman’s Award Again
More Robotics won the 2009 FIRST Robotics Wisconsin Regional Chairman’s Award again for the second year in a row. On Saturday, March 14th, the Thomas More Community Robotics Club, also known as More Robotics, was awarded the Chairman’s Award at the 4th annual FIRST Robotics Wisconsin Regional Competition. After competing 2 days against 53 teams from the USA and Canada, More Robotics was awarded this most prestigious award. They now have earned the right to compete in the FIRST Robotics International Championship to be held next month in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. There, they will be competing against 400 teams from around the world.
Our club is also proud to announce that Club President, Michael Wittman, was awarded the FIRST Robotics Wisconsin Regional Volunteer of the Year Award at this event. More Robotics also was a runner-up for the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award.
The Chairman’s Award represents the spirit of FIRST. It honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST. It remains FIRST’s most prestigious award.
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual competition that helps students discover the rewards and excitement of science, engineering, and technology. More than 42,000 high-school students on 1,686 teams from the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K. are participating in this year’s competition. The Wisconsin Regional is one of 43 regional competitions held around the world.
Earlier in the day, team members from More Robotics met with Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST Robotics. FIRST Robotics was founded by Dean Kamen in 1992 with the vision "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."
In this year’s competition entitled “Lunacy” robots are designed to pick up 9" game balls and score them in trailers hitched to their opponents’ robots for points during a 2 minute and 15 second match. Additional points are awarded for scoring a special game ball, the Super Cell, in the opponents' trailers during the last 20 seconds of the match. “Lunacy” is played on a low-friction floor, which means teams must contend with the laws of physics.
More Robotics is a community team made up of 31 high school students from Saint Thomas More, Oak Creek, Cudahy, Greenfield, and Homestead High Schools. Adult mentors and teachers lead students in the design, building, and programming of 120 pound remote controlled robots for competition. Student team members are encouraged to excel in the study of science and technology with the hope that they will become the next generation of engineers, technological leaders, and entrepreneurs that will help make our world a better place.
More Robotics is supported by local companies and universities. Our major sponsors include Quad Tech, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, Ladish Co., Milwaukee SPE, Marquette University, American Nuclear Society RRSD, MSOE, GE Healthcare, ABB Robotics, American Acrylics USA, LLC, and Saint Thomas More High School. Additional information about More Robotics and FIRST Robotics can be found by visiting their website: www.morerobotics.org.
