Southeast Michigan High Schools has sent 39 Robotics teams to the FIRST Robotics 2011 Detroit District Competition, which was conducted on March 18th and 19th, 2011 at the Matthaei Physical Education Center, situated at the Wayne State University.
FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology and induces determination and passion in the students, who would like to take up careers in engineering, medical, science and math.
According to Darin Ellis, the Associate Dean of academic affairs at Wayne State University College of Engineering, they learn a lot from the team work, which is done to compete in the robotics competition. In the month of March and April, FIRST is to host nine district competitions in Michigan State, where 64 teams would be selected for the FIRST Robotics Michigan State Championship. These would be held between the dates April 7-9. From this State Championship, 18 teams would be picked up and allowed to participate in the International FIRST Championship which would take place from 27th April to 30th April in St. Louis.
The events are open for the general public, and each Robotics event comes with a guarantee of excitement. The game for 2011 has been termed as LOGO MOTION and would be played by two groups on a field, which has the dimensions of 27’ x 54’. Each match would be for two minutes and 15 seconds, wherein the alliances, which consist of three robots each, would try to hang the maximum number of inflated plastic shapes on grids. The team that hangs the most would receive the most points.
Source: http://www.media.wayne.edu