North Bay FIRST Robotics Competition goes March 22
The North Bay FIRST Robotics Steering Committee, with committee Co-chair Chris Minor, held a kickoff event Wednesday at Nipissing University to promote its upcoming North Bay FIRST Robotics Competition. North Bay is once again hosting this competition with 32 teams from across the province confirmed to attend the March 22 to March 24 public event.
The kickoff event was held to outline competition criteria, reveal this year’s competition game, and introduce and thank the event sponsors.
Local FIRST Team 1305 members were on hand to demonstrate this year’s robot’s capabilities. Named “Cryo”, the robot is programmed to pick up and propel “note” game pieces in both human operated and autonomous (programmed) mode.
Nipissing University President and Honorary Chair, Kevin Wamsley, spoke of Nipissing’s longstanding support of the event, saying “Nipissing University is a proud sponsor and host of the FIRST Robotics Competition. We are so excited to be affiliated with this organization and this wonderful competition which involves the next generation of leaders in science and technology. These students are carrying out a similar enterprise to the mission of our university, which is to take scientific principles and to apply them to solve problems. We really want to support the next generation of leaders and we also want to celebrate the volunteer spirit in North Bay and the surrounding region which makes this wonderful event happen.”
New sponsor, Agnico Eagle spokesperson, Mary Kelly, added “As a Canadian and Senior Mining company, we know how critical science and technology are to the current and future success of our industry as well as society. In order to meet the challenges for our collective future, we need to invest in and inspire the next generation to be leaders in science and technology, to be innovators and collaborators so that we can continue to create solutions for the challenges we face. FIRST Robotics provides an opportunity to nurture the aspirations of youth in a holistic manner – building the technical and social skill sets. We cannot wait to witness the young talent next weekend!”
Yves Benoit, representing Redpath, shared that “Redpath sponsors FIRST Robotics for a simple reason; we support an initiative that sets up students for success in life and work. For this reason, the effort we invest in FIRST is very well placed.”
Local team members, Inuka and Tessa, shared that they have heard from many teams from across the province that will be attending, that they are very excited for the North Bay event. Organizers expect in the vicinity of 1000 to 1200 visitors to the city over the competition week-end.
The competition will be open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend. Best viewing times will be during Saturday matches from 11:30 to late afternoon and from Sunday 9:30 to late afternoon.
FIRST Robotic Competitions foster team building with a focus on science and technology, personal growth through hands on technical exploration, a field of robot action elimination game, community outreach, and more. For more information please visit www.firstroboticscanada.org.
