Kori Downs
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Illinois Tech Robotics
(ITR) has been supporting the endeavors of
youth Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Math (STEM) education through partnerships
with FIRST Robotics for more than a decade.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology) is an international
youth robotics organization that offers ro-
botics competitions for students grades 1-12.
This past weekend on February 21, 2015, ITR
played a large role in hosting the Illinois FIRST
Tech Challenge (FTC) State Championship at
IIT.

The FIRST Tech Challenge was
founded in 2005 with 130 teams participat—
ing in 6 regional tournaments; today, there are
over 4500 teams around the world that com-
pete in over 200 qualifying events that culmi-
nate in a world championship held in April in
Saint Louis, MO. Students on FTC teams are

generally between the ages of 12 and 18. Each
year, they receive a different challenge that the
robot they build must complete. The game is
played on a 12 foot square field, and this year,
teams’ robots must move wiflle balls of differ-
ent sizes into different goals on the field in or-
der to score points.

The 32 teams of students who ar-
rived at Hermann Hall on Saturday morning
were among the best FTC teams in the state
of Illinois; in order to advance to the FTC
State Championship, teams had to rank in the
top 30% of all teams in the state at qualifying
events that were held earlier this school year.

Vital to the success of the event were
the over 100 volunteers who gave their time
on Saturday, more than 20 of whom were IIT
students. Volunteers assisted with inspecting
teams’ robots to ensure they follow all rules,
checking in teams as they arrive to the event,
refereeing matches, tallying scores, maintain-
ing field electronics, and announcing play-by—
play of the action on the field. -

TechNews | Tuesday, February 24th, 2015

Illinois Tech Robotics, ||T host FIRST
Tech Challenge Championship

The event began with an opening
ceremony to welcome teams and spectators
and to pump up the crowd. Shortly following
were several hours of round-robin qualifica—
tion matches. In these matches, teams were
paired up randomly with another team at the
event, and played against another randomly-
assigned alliance of two teams. After these
matches concluded, teams were ranked ac—
cording to the number of matches they won,
and then the top 4 teams chose their partners
to continue on to playoff matches before a
champion was crowned.

While matches are taking place, a
team of judges representing many facets of the
professional world also observes teams and in-
terviews them between their matches. Teams
are eligible for a variety of awards ranging from
best robot design to most effective community
outreach to most team spirit. The most prized
award in the FIRST Tech Challenge is awarded
to a team that performs well on the field and
across all judging categories. The top eight

teams at the Illinois FTC State Championship
will be advancing to a regional event in Iowa in
March, and the top teams there advance to the
world championship.

Illinois Tech Robotics students co-
ordinated logistics and volunteers for the
event. Sponsors for the event included Illinois
Institute of Technology, IIT Online, and Mo—
torola Solutions. Media coverage at the event
included the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV
news. FIRST events held at IIT through Illinois
Tech Robotics annually bring hundreds of high
school students interested in STEM to the uni-
versity’s campus.

Those interested in volunteering
their time with FIRST or otherwise getting in-
volved with Illinois Tech Robotics can contact
the organization at robotics.iit@gmail.com,
join the organization on Hakaink, or join
weekly meetings held Friday evenings at 7 pm.
in their robotics lab in 3424 S. State Street.

Photos by Kori Bowns and Angela Kuqo
—