The field is being set up for the 2015 Fingerlakes Regional at RIT March 26-28 (Photo courtesy FIRST Rochester)
The field is set and teams are loading in for this weekend’s FIRST Robotics Competition at RIT in Rochester. This is the closest competition for Buffalo area teams. The competition features teams in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) which is the highest level of competition offered by FIRST with High School aged students and their 120 lb. robots. Besides seeing which robots designs excel at the game, which is different each year, the students are recognized with awards for many areas, such as engineering, safety, team spirit, and overall team quality including their business plan and community service. They also have an opportunity to meet college recruiters and receive scholarship information. This is the 11th annual Fingerlakes event and 45 teams from Ontario, Maryland, and all parts of New York, will compete for the honors and an opportunity to go to the Championship event in St. Louis in April. The exciting competition is open to the public and free. You can watch the matches and tour the pits and see teams working on keeping their robots running. The event is held at the Gordon Field House on the RIT campus. The event’s web site has full details. It’s worth the drive to see, but if you can’t make it, it is being telecast on the internet. The direct link to the video is http://www.wasapi.com/event.php?id=16 or can be found at the hub for all FRC videos: The Blue Alliance.