The North Bay FIRST Robotics Steering Committee held a kick-off event Wednesday at Nipissing University to promote its upcoming North Bay FIRST Robotics Competition. The City is once again hosting this competition with 32 teams from across the province confirmed to attend the March 22 to 24 public event.
Local FIRST Team 1305 members were on hand to demonstrate this year’s robot’s capabilities. Named “Cryo”, the robot is programmed to pick up and propel “note” game pieces in both human-operated and autonomous (programmed) modes.
The kickoff event was held to outline competition criteria, reveal this year’s competition game, and introduce and thank the event sponsors.
Nipissing University President and Honorary Chair, Kevin Wamsley, spoke of Nipissing’s longstanding support of the event, saying “We are so excited to be affiliated with this organization and this wonderful competition which involves the next generation of leaders in science and technology. These students are carrying out a similar enterprise to the mission of our university, which is to take scientific principles and apply them to solve problems. We really want to support the next generation of leaders and we also want to celebrate the volunteer spirit in North Bay and the surrounding region which makes this wonderful event happen.”
New sponsor, Agnico Eagle spokesperson, Mary Kelly, added “As a Canadian and Senior Mining company, we know how critical science and technology are to the current and future success of our industry as well as society. To meet the challenges for our collective future, we need to invest in and inspire the next generation to be leaders in science and technology, and to be innovators and collaborators so that we can continue to create solutions for the challenges we face. FIRST Robotics provides an opportunity to nurture the aspirations of youth in a holistic manner – building technical and social skill sets."
Yves Benoit, representing Redpath, shared that “Redpath sponsors FIRST Robotics for a simple reason; we support an initiative that sets up students for success in life and work. For this reason, the effort we invest in FIRST is very well placed.”
Organizers expect in the vicinity of 1,000 to 1,200 visitors to the city over the competition week-end.
The competition will be open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend. The best viewing times will be during Saturday matches from 11:30 to late afternoon and from Sunday 9:30 to late afternoon.
For more information visit www.firstroboticscanada.org.
