Second Annual MiniBot Challenge



So many FLL and FTC teams had a blast participating in last year’s MiniBot Challenge that we are doing it again!  Are you ready?


To play, you must design a MiniBot, measuring 12"x12"x12" or less, using only parts allowed in the 2014-15 FIRST® Tech Challenge Game Manual Part 1 or FIRST®LEGO® League allowed parts. The only exception to this rule is that the NXT does not have to be physically attached to your MiniBot (if it is, it must fit into the 12"x12"x12" space) and you may use an EV3 in place of the NXT brick.

What does the mini-bot do?  It can do anything you want it to, but the cooler, the better.  That's because you're going to upload a video of your robot in action to YouTube and share the link with us.  We'll watch it and if it meets the time criteria (see below), we'll add it to a YouTube playlist.  Then the community will vote on the coolest Bot, and at the end of the contest period the MiniBot with the most likes (1 pt) and comments (2 pts) will be declared the winner.

Check out the MiniBots from last year’s MiniBot YouTube Playlistand be sure you DO NOT copy any of those ideas or re-submit your robot from last year. All new ideas, please.

Now get building, FLL and FTC teams!

Build and Video Specifics:
This contest is open to both FTC and FLL Teams!
  • Create a mini-bot (12"x12"x12" or smaller; NXT does not need to be attached, but must fit inside the 12"x12"x12" dimension if it is) that can crawl, drive, walk, shoot, whatever you can imagine.  For allowed parts, follow the guidelines in the FTC Game Manual Part 1 or FLL allowed parts (the EV3 is permitted as a processor in place of the NXT).
  • Produce a 60-second (or less) video of your robot in action.  Please include your Program (FLL/FTC), Team number and/or name (we'll use the main contact we have on file for your team to contact you if you win).  Use a ruler at the beginning of the video to demonstrate your robot's dimensions
  • Upload your video to YouTube
  • Share the video link with us: social@usfirst.org.  We'll add it to a YouTube Playlist and share that link with the community
 Voting Specifics:
  • Get everyone you know to go to the playlist and vote for their favorite video by giving it a thumbs up or a comment.  Please be gracious professionals and don't give videos a thumbs down (we won't count these against anyone anyway).  Comments aimed at artificially inflating comment count (i.e. the same user posting repeatedly or spelling out words one letter per comment at a time) will not be counted (judges reserve the right to determine if this is the case).
 Deadlines:
  • Submission Deadline: April 15, 2015
  • Voting begins: April 17, 2015
  • Voting Deadline: May 6, 2015
 The winning team will of course receive bragging rights and recognition among the community, as well as a unique trophy. Thanks for participating and have fun!

CONGRATULATIONS!
The 2015 MiniBot Challenge winning entry:
FTC Team #5604 Thunderbots

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    2015-2016 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Awards!

    Image
    FIRST Tech Challenge Judged Awards Inspire Award – Team 7013 – Hot Wired from Portland, Oregon Finalists: Team 6081 – I 2 R Robotics from West Port Connecticut Team 6389 – The Lazybots from Eden Prairie Minnesota Team 7013 – Hot Wired from Portland, Oregon **Award Winner** Team 7655 – The Q is Silqent from Eagan Minnesota Rockwell Collins Innovate Award – Team 7350 – Watts NXT? from Edison New Jersey Finalists: Team 6022 – TBD To Be Determined, Aurora Ohio Team 7013 – Hot Wired  from Portland, Oregon Team 7152 – Robot Squad from Rochester Minnesota Team 7350 – Watts NXT? from Edison New Jersey **Award Winner** Team 7486 – Team Erebor from Suffern New York Team 9048 – Phiobots from Austin, TX Motivate Award – Team 4855 – Batteries in Black from Portland, Oregon Finalists: Team 4855 – Batteries in Black from Portland, Oregon **Award Winner** Team 5070 – N.U.T.S. from Orlando, Florida Team 5202 – Zip TIE Fighters from Decatur Illinois Team 5220 – RoboKnights from Fremont California Tea
    Read more

    GAME HINT and FIRST Tech Challenge 2016-2017 Season Field Pre-Order Information

    Image
    AndyMark will start accepting Team pre-orders for the 2016-2017 field sets beginning on 7/1/2016! All team shipments will be sent out on 9/9/2016. There will not be Saturday deliveries. For orders to ship by 9/9/2016 they must be placed with AndyMark and processed by 8/26/2016.  2016-2017 Beacons FIRST Tech Challenge is excited to announce that for the 2016-2017 seasons’ game, we will be reusing the RES-Q℠ Beacon. The beacon will function differently than it had for the FIRST RES-Q℠ game, and there will be a total of four Beacons on each field instead of just two. Teams do not have to purchase brand new beacons, they will be able to reuse Beacons purchased from last season. The Beacons used last season will need to be reprogrammed with the 2016-2017 game’s software for those Teams that would like to reuse their already purchased beacons. AndyMark will be offering a Programming Tool to reprogram each beacon*. AndyMark has been hard at work this summer to make some significant changes a
    Read more

    FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Waitlist F.A.Q.

    Image
    Why has FIRST Tech Challenge added a waitlist component to the World Championship? In April of 2016, FIRST announced the addition of a second FIRST Championship. We did this so that we could make the life-changing excitement and inspiration of the FIRST Championship more accessible, available, and affordable to more kids and teams. This decision doubled the number of spots available for FIRST Tech Challenge teams at the World Championship, and created some interesting opportunities for advancement. Our FIRST Tech Challenge Super-Regionals were instituted over three years ago to address the growing number of Regional Championships, and the relatively smaller number of teams advancing to the next level. It solved that problem with great success as we head into year four of the Super-Regional format. This year FIRST Tech Challenge will expand the percentage of teams advancing from countries outside North America, expand the percentage of teams advancing from Super-Regionals, and institut
    Read more