FIRST Robotics
I am a volunteer mentor and coach for FIRST Robotics Competition. I am currently a
mentor/coach on team 4048, RedShift, at Westborough High School, Westborough, MA.
RedShift's rookie year was 2012, and I joined at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school
year. Besides sharing a lead mentor role with the founder of the team, my
main role is as the principal mentor on the hardware design and build and sharing
coaching responsibilities at competitions. The team went to the world
championship in the 2015 season, and qualified for it in the 2016 season, deciding
to decline for practical reasons (mentors had to work and the timing was not
right for the school year.) Regular competions were suspended in 2020 and 2021 because
of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it looks like we will be able to start again
for the 2022 season.
For the 2009 - 2012 seasons, I mentored and coached teams 1510
(Wildcats) and 2898 (Flying Hedgehogs) in Beaverton, OR.
Team 1510 won the 2011 Cascade regional competition in Seattle
and the 2011 Portland competition Chairman's award,
so we were invited to the World Championship in St. Louis, where
we came out around the middle of the field against
the best teams in the world. Both teams made the elimination rounds at
the 2012 Oregon regional and at the 2012 Seattle regionals. Though I
relocated to Westborough, Massachusetts in March, 2012, I coached team 2898
in April one last time at the World Championship in St. Louis.
Drive practice and testing the 2018 robot with arm/gripper V2 and climber.
RedShift's 2013 robot blocking two shots during autonomous play at the New England championship.
This was the talk of the tournament for the rest of the day.
The RedShift web site
The RedShift facebook page
The RedShift YouTube Channel
There was a lot of good media coverage of FIRST Robotics over the years from very visible outlets like CNN and ABC. Another
major shot in the arm for visibility of FIRST is the collaboration of Will.i.am, who has done a great deal to
promote the program and competitions.
2020 game animation
i.am.FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll
Will.i.am presents the 2011 FIRST Robotics World Championship, including clips of the half time concert by the Black Eyed Peas, and
introduced by President Obama. Nine minutes and 39 seconds into the video, you can see team 1510's Quentin (in red) rocking out at
the concert. This You Tube video was posted by FTC team 3415
Soledad O'Brien's CNN report on math and science education in America.
FIRST robotics is profiled as an example of a technology education program that works across
the demographic spectrum. Lot's of FRC action here with teams 842, 1403 and 3675, three teams with
very different demographics and students with very different stories. There are six parts to this video,
hosted on YouTube by Team 2403, Plasma Robotics
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a strong FIRST supporter, with basketball playing robot at the 2012 FIRST World Championship
2011 FIRST Robotics promotion with Morgan Freeman
