Autodesk and FIRST Robotics

Transcription

1 12/1/ :00 am - 11:30 am Room:Pelican 2 (Swan) Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort Orlando, Florida Autodesk and FIRST Robotics Daniel Ward - Ivy Tech State College ED43-1 Autodesk has been a supporter of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition for more than a decade, This year, Autodesk is the Official Championship Sponsor and as an Official Supplier. Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools, and their communities. Come witness how Autodesk's continuing support opens the door to aspiring designers and animators through the use of its products. Award-winning animations and designs will be shown along with the techniques and curriculum used to create them using AutoCAD, Inventor, 3ds MAX, and Autodesk Streamline. About the Speaker: Dan is an assistant professor and program chair of the Design Technology department at Ivy Tech State College in Kokomo, Indiana, and has been using and teaching Autodesk software for nearly 20 years. A FIRST Robotics animation and design mentor with Team 45, The TechnoKats, he has received research grants focusing on online project collaboration and robotics education from Autodesk and the National Science Foundation. In addition, Dan is in his third year as a NASA faculty research fellow. He holds a B.S. degree in Technical Graphics from Purdue University, and is currently finishing his Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. dward@ivytech.edu

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9 FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology The FIRST Robotics Competition, now in its 15th year, continues to transform the lives of its participants. Though labeled a robotics competition, FIRST is much more than robots. In the words of one participant, FIRST is not about using people to build robots. It is about using robots to build people. FIRST Robotics is a mentorship program which immerses high school students in the wonders and rewards of engineering. FIRST partners youth with adults and challenges these groups to become high performing engineering teams capable of designing, building and debugging a competitive robotic device in just 6 weeks. With the design challenge changing each year, and kept secret until revealed at the beginning of the competition season, all teams start from an equal footing to build their machines from a common kit of parts. The season concludes with regional and championship competitions where teams gather to not just score points on the playing field, but more importantly to inspire the participants to continue their journey of learning. The FIRST awards system emphasizes the greater value of the experience by formally recognizing teams for their entrepreneurship, creativity, sportsmanship, cooperation, and, most importantly, their ability to inspire students. While FIRST teams immensely enjoy the on-field competition with their robotic creations, they covet the chance to be recognized as the team that best achieves FIRST s goal to transform their community to one which values science and technology and inspires students to pursue technical careers. A spirit of gracious professionalism permeates the FIRST Robotics Competition where teams cooperate with one another in the midst of competing against one another on the playing field. The Origins of FIRST Founder Dean Kamen articulates the purpose of FIRST. The competition is designed to be fun but it s about learning, and even more basically, about learning to want to learn, by discovering how infinitely enriching and fulfilling the rewards of learning can be. According to MIT Professor and FIRST Robotics Competition Co-Founder Woodie Flowers, FIRST is a microcosm of engineering. A team faces a real problem that must be solved with limited time, materials and money. Cooperation, creativity, careful thought and knowledge are essential. It is not an academic excercise. As the season progresses, since Mother Nature applies all of her rules all of the time, thousands of people come to understand what was really important in the problem. The correlation between FIRST and real engineering is hardly a coincidence. The origin of the FIRST Robotics Competition is Prof. Flowers famous introduction to design course where for decades MIT students have been tasked with solving design challenges using a standard kit of parts. From this humble beginning FIRST has expanded in all dimensions to be a sophisticated robotics challenge with nearly 1,000 teams and 25,000 participants in College Involvement with FIRST As a high school mentorship program there is a natural relationship between FIRST and universities as the next phase of the students intellectual development. Many universities are drawn to FIRST not only to join FIRST s mission, but also to help the college achieve its own goals. Thus many universities participate in FIRST to recruit these very talented and experienced high school students into their programs. Universities hosted a majority of the FIRST Robotics Competitions in 2004 where typically 4,000 students swarmed the campuses for 3 full days of competition and inspiration. As another means of increasing their visibility with the select group of FIRST participants, many universities and benefactors, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, provide scholarships to FIRST participants. In 2004, universities and sponsors offered $4.5 million in scholarships exclusively for FIRST participants. In addition, scores of college faculty and administrators volunteer at FIRST competitions where they are role models for the students. A growing percentage of FIRST teams benefit from being affiliated with universities. College contributions range from cases where the college provides full sponsorship and leadership of the team to instances where a few college students volunteer as team mentors. On some campuses students participate in FIRST as non-credit engineering outreach activities while other programs offer credit for FIRST activities that are part of academic courses. A few case studies are 8

10 presented to illustrate a range of methods for college involvement with FIRST. While these examples are not exhaustive, they do illustrate varied approaches to incorporate FIRST in the college environment. FIRST and Universities Partners Working Together FIRST has proven to be a powerful tool to teach engineering design, energize college students about their profession and draw new students to participating universities. While the majority of these case studies have focused on the FIRST Robotics Competition, other universities have had success using the FIRST Junior Robotics Program to connect with and inspire middle school students. Because of the impact FIRST has on its participants it is not surprising to find FIRST high school graduates starting new FIRST teams at their college. Nor is it is uncommon for college graduates who have participated in FIRST to start new FIRST teams as young engineers. As demonstrated by this commitment to share the experience with others, it is obvious that FIRST works transforming the lives of its participants. FIRST provides two well-known programs, the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for highschool-aged young people and FIRST LEGO League (FLL) for 9 to 14 year-olds. FIRST is currently piloting the FIRST Vex Challenge, a mid-level robotics competition that offers students the traditional challenge of a FIRST Robotics Competition but with a more accessible and affordable robotics kit. FIRST also operates a research and development facility called FIRST Place at its headquarters. Who are some of the organizations that sponsor FIRST? FIRST is supported by a strong network of corporations, educational and professional institutions, and individuals. Some of the world s most respected companies provide funding, mentorship time and talent, volunteerism, equipment, and more to make FIRST a reality. Founding Sponsors include John Abele/Boston Scientific Corporation, Baxter International Inc., Daimler Chrysler Corporation Fund, DEKA R&D, Delphi, General Motors Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Motorola, Inc., and Xerox Corporation. RadioShack is a FIRST Official Sponsor. The LEGO Group is a Founding Partner of FIRST LEGO League. Autodesk and FedEx are official suppliers of The FIRST Robotics Competition. Autodesk s Official Championship sponsorship represented a significant increase in the company s longstanding support as an Official FIRST Robotics Competition Supplier and sponsor of the Autodesk Awards for Excellence. FIRST is extremely proud of our enduring relationship with Autodesk. Thirteen years ago, they were one of the first companies to recognize and support the FIRST vision, and today we are especially thrilled with their increased commitment to become the Official Sponsor of the 2005 FIRST Championship, said Paul Shay, FIRST executive director. At the FIRST Championship, Autodesk recognizes two teams with the Autodesk Inventor Award for excellence in 3D mechanical design, and the Autodesk Visualization Award for excellence in animation. At Autodesk, our company is built on the people, software, and technology that help our customers realize their ideas to compete and win. Our investment in FIRST is a natural extension of our company philosophy, said Carl Bass, Autodesk COO. We proudly support the FIRST mission of helping young people discover and reap the rewards of education and careers in science and technology. How does the education community support FIRST? FIRST provides an education and career path for young people who might not otherwise have discovered an interest in and pursued education and careers in science and technology. FIRST works closely with schools at every level to transform both the perception and reality of education in science and technology. Some of the finest engineering colleges and universities support FIRST by providing scholarship opportunities, sponsoring teams, providing mentorship, equipment, and facilities. As a result of the support of these colleges and universities, 2005 FIRST students are eligible for close to $8 million scholarship funds to continue education in science, technology, engineering, and math. Who manages the teams and events? FIRST is truly a volunteer-driven organization. For the 2005 FIRST season, over 40,000 volunteers contributed in areas including mentorship, event management, recruitment, and team management. The growth and success of FIRST is a direct result of the efforts of the mentors, parents, teachers, community leaders, and citizens who volunteer their time and talent. 9

11 How can volunteers get involved? The best way to start discovering the rewards of FIRST is to attend a FIRST event (attendance is free), contact a mentor from a local team, visit the FIRST website, or contact FIRST at Interested volunteers can visit the website at and click on Volunteers for more information about how to become a mentor. How do we support the team? Fall Workshop and Kickoff hosting Design Concepts and Modeling 10

12 Storyboarding and Animation 11