FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

More than Dressing Up

Last night I watched what I thought was a wonderful documentary about Steampunk, Vintage Tomorrows. The film is currently streaming for free on Netflix and as a paid rental on other platforms. Check out the trailer:

One of the elements of the documentary I especially liked is that it did not shy away from difficult questions, like ‘does Steampunk celebrate a colonialism?’. It’s a thoughtful, broad-ranging, and fun film. And it reaffirmed my belief that, as one participant in the film said, Steampunk is “made of awesome”. It really is more than just about dressing up.

I give it four goggles:

District Registration

2^nd District Event registration last Thursday was smooth, and we’re looking forward to having as smooth a ride this Thursday, October 20^th, and Noon Eastern Time, when we open 2^nd Regional Event registration. We’re working hard to make sure we’re ready!

Beta Team Correction

In last week’s blog about the 2017 Control System, we listed a Beta Test Team number incorrectly. The team number for Northwood School Robotics, from Lake Placid, NY, USA, was listed as 630 instead of their actual team number, 6300. Sorry about that, Northwood School! 

Wait – a Rookie team? Yep, we picked a Rookie team for beta testing. They actually have five sets of the 2016 platform for their use, are building FRC into their educational curriculum, and have experienced roboticists as part of the effort. We thought this was a worthwhile combination to have as part of this very important effort.

Frank