Five Australian teams in FIRST robotics competition

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) recently held the Hawaii Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. 

Almost 40 teams from five countries participated in this year’s Hawaii Regional. Five teams from Australia - Thunder Down Under (NSW), Rowville Secondary College (Victoria), Drop Bears (NSW), Roos (SA) and AI Robotics (Victoria) - were in the thick of the action.

Thunder Down Under was particularly successful in Hawaii, finishing as the recipient of the Entrepreneurship Award and Woodie Flowers Award, a Dean’s List Finalist and runner-up for the Safety Award.

In the Aerial Assist robot game, Thunder Down Under finished in the top eight and qualified as an alliance leader for the elimination rounds. In another standout result for the Australian teams, Rowville Secondary College won the Rookie Inspiration Award.

Rockwell Automation is one of the key global partners for FIRST and was the recipient of the Founder’s Award at the World Championships last year in St Louis, USA, for its continued sponsorship of FIRST.

In Australia, FIRST is coordinated by Professor Michael Heimlich, of Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science. According to Professor Heimlich, “The biggest impact is made on the participants themselves, who are undertaking real engineering, going to university and developing an understanding of the importance of science and technology. It is very gratifying to see Australian teams performing so well on the international stage after just five years as part of the FIRST program.

“In big news for our FIRST participants, the official Australian Regional has been approved for 2015 and is tentatively scheduled for 20-22 March in Sydney. Teams from all over Asia Pacific, as well as the United States, are planning to participate in this event,” said Professor Heimlich.