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FIRST Robotics @ Sun

Many Sun employees are involved with FIRST Robotics - as team mentors, sponsors, parents, and volunteers. This public wiki is a space for Sun employees and others to learn and share information about being involved with FIRST. So please share what you know!

What is FIRST?

FIRST is a non-profit that organizes robotic competitions that reach 196,000 students in over 40 countries.

Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

New for All Hands:

Video: FIRST Promo
Video: Your FIRST...

FIRST organizes several levels of robotic competition:

FIRST Robotics Competition - FRC ( high-school )
FIRST Tech Challenge - FTC ( high-school )
FIRST LEGO League - FLL ( ages 9-14 )
Junior FIRST LEGO League -JFLL ( ages 6-9 )

Java + FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST, Sun, and WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) have committed to supply Java as one of the programming languages for the 2010 FRC season! This makes many Sun employees even more valuable as mentors for teams next year.

For more details, see:

Ways to become involved with FIRST

0. Talk to Sun people already involved

Who's on FIRST lists Sun people (including Sun alumni and family) that are involved with FRC, FTC, and FLL teams. Feel free to talk to these local contacts. If you are involved with a team, please add yourself!

1. Go to FIRST Events (free!)

Watching a FIRST event is a lot of fun, and can be the first step in getting you or your child involved in FIRST. Upcoming events near Sun locations:

Date	Event	Venue	Location

See Event watching tips for more details, and FIRST's web page to look up events in other areas.

Past events:

Date	Event	Location
Jun 1-5	FIRST @ JavaOne - Gosling's Keynote, Pavilion, etc. (with videos)	JavaOne
May 22	FIRST Teams "show-and-tell" (with photos)	Sun Cafeteria, Burlington, MA
Apr 16-18	2009 FIRST Championship - Now with More Java! (with photos)	Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Mar 6-7	Team 2876 from Burlington MA attended the Boston FRC Regional Take a look at some photos from the competition	Agganis Arena, Boston University.

2. Have your kids join a FIRST team

FIRST has a web page to look up teams in your area. You can also check out our Who's on FIRST page to look for teams with a Sun connection. The FRC and FTC teams are typically associated with a school, while FLL and JFFL teams are sometimes more loosely based.

3. Volunteer at an Event

A shorter term way to get involved is to volunteer to help run a FIRST event. There are a number of jobs - team sign in, pit safety, judging, etc. There may be a training involved and a time commitment of a few days. See FIRST's volunteering page for more details.

4. Donate to a team (or FIRST)

Yes, building thousands of robots and holding competitions costs money. FIRST is 501(c)(3) organization, and accepts donations on the web. To learn more about donating to a team, Sun matching grants, etc, see the Sponsoring Info page for details.

5. Mentor a team

Mentoring is a big part of FIRST - it's teaching kids the engineering mindset. How to break a problem down, building and testing hypothesis, planning for the unexpected, and the reality of Murphy's Law and the Demo Effect. The FRC competitions have a significant mechanical and electrical engineering component, but starting in 2009 software is playing a larger role.

A team coach role is a big (and rewarding) commitment, but there may be specialized roles available too (C/C++ tutor, machine shop assistant, etc.) If these are areas that you know something about, it is likely that there is a team that would be happy to hear from you. For more information see FIRST's volunteering page and our mentoringtips page.

6. Start a team

Even though there are thousands of teams out there, they are not always near you. The effort to start a team varies greatly, from getting a few adults and kids together (and some money) for an FLL team to some serious money, space and time commitments for a FRC team. But there is a lot of information and guidance available for new teams. See FIRST's Start a Team page for information, and talk to people at Sun.

7. Learn more at on-campus show and tells

Sometimes teams come on-campus to show off their robots and answer questions. Watch this space for future events...
If you know of a team in the Broomfield area, or can help host an event on the Broomfield campus, please contact me.

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What else do you want to know? What else should we say? This is a Wiki - EDIT!