Utah’s 2018 Regional FIRST^® Robotics Competition

Power up! Bots go toe to toe March 2 and 3 in video-game-inspired FIRST Robotics Competition at Maverik Center.

Feb. 27, 2018 — High school teams from Utah and across the nation will be powering up at the Maverik Center in West Valley City for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition, which will take its cue from the world of video games.

The two-day event, which brings 52 student teams from as far away as Chile, California and Canada, will be held Friday, March 2, and Saturday, March 3, in the center’s main arena at 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive. The event, co-sponsored by the University of Utah’s College of Engineering, is free and open to the public.

This year’s competition is titled “FIRST Power Up” and combines the world of robotics with the equally-frenzied world of video games. Teams must build autonomous and remote-controlled robots to move box-shaped power cubes that control switches and scales in order to face a video game “boss.” Teams receive points by converting power cubes for a video game “power-up,” which is used to their advantage. The team with the most points defeats the boss.

This year’s regional FIRST contest is the culmination of six weeks in which student teams design and order the parts for the robots, then build, program and test the bots.

“It is amazing to see what these students accomplish,” says event chair Mark Minor, who is also a University of Utah mechanical engineering associate professor and a member of the U’s Robotics Center. “Their teams work like miniature corporations where engineering and business work together to dream up a new robot from scratch that wins the game. Students work with mentors from industry to gain hands-on insight into the real world, and they truly become the leaders of the next generation!”

Teams that win the Utah regional competition as well as select award winners will move on to the FIRST national championship held April 18-21 in Houston and April 25-28 in Detroit. In all, more than 91,000 high school students from around the world will participate in this year’s competition, which is in its 27th year.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition helps promote and foster science and technology learning among the nation’s high school students, creating a new generation of engineers, programmers and scientists. Each year, the competition takes on a different theme, and the nature of the game changes.

“The University of Utah’s College of Engineering is proud to have founded the Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition and to continue to co-sponsor this exciting event,” said College of Engineering Dean Richard B. Brown. “In the FIRST Robotics competitions, students get a taste of the creativity that is central to engineering careers, which is so important to the economy and improving our quality of life.”

Along with the University of Utah’s College of Engineering, the event’s sponsors include the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies (Founding Sponsor), L3 Technologies, Andeavor, Merit Medical, Orbital ATK, Boeing, Comcast, STEM Action Center, and the Utah TECH Workforce Foundation.

Media Coverage

Mar. 5; UofU CoE – FIRST Robotics 2018
Mar. 5; KSL – Robotics Competition Teaches Students Life Lessons in Collaboration
Feb. 2; Sandy Journal – Off-Season Learning Prepare Local High School Robotics Teams for Spring Competition
Jan. 6; KTVX – Students Help Kick Off Robotics Competition
Dec. 15; From Robotics to Full-Ride Scholarship to the U, How Navajo Students Beat the Odds

Awards – March 2 & 3

An asterisk denotes a team or contestant who qualified for the FIRST Championship 2018^® in Houston, Texas.

Regional Chairman’s Award	Team 2576* Chilean Heart, Santiago, Chile
Engineering Inspiration Award	Team 3374* Jackson Hole RoboBroncs, WY
FIRST Dean’s List Finalist Award	Zahara Ali Team 3245* Ravens, Sandy, UT Christopher Clyne Team 5933* JudgeMent Call, Salt Lake City, UT
Regional Winners	Team 1678* Citrus Circuits, Davis Senior High, CA Team 399* Eagle Robotics, Lancaster High, CA Team 1410* The Kraken, George Washington HS, Denver, CO
Regional Finalists	Team 3230* PrototypeX, West Valley City, UT (wild card) Team 670* Homestead Robotics, Homestead High, Cupertino, CA Team 159* Alpine Robotics, Poudre HS, Fort Collins, CO
Woodie Flowers Finalist Award	Keith Schramm Team 3230 PrototypeX
Industrial Safety Award sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories	Team 968 RAWC (Robotics Alliance of West Covina), CA
Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors	Team 987 Highrollers from Las Vegas, NV
Highest Rookie Seed Award	Team 7151 Real Robotics, Real Salt Lake Academy HS, Herriman, UT
Judges’ Award	Team 399 Eagle Robotics, Lancaster High, CA
Rookie All-Star Award	Team 6844* Provotypes, Provo, UT
Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers	Team 115 MVRT, Monta Vista High, Cupertino, CA
Team Spirit Award sponsored by FCA Foundation	Team 4944 The Hi Fives, Grand Junction, CO
Excellence in Engineering Award sponsored by Delphi	Team 1339 AngelBotics, East High School, Denver, CO
Gracious Professionalism® Award sponsored by Johnson & Johnson	Team 4585 Husky Robotics, Hillcrest High, Midvale, UT
Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox	Team 3230 PrototypeX, West Valley City, UT
Quality Award sponsored by Motorola Solutions Foundation	Team 1678 Citrus Circuits, Davis, CA
Innovation in Control Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation	Team 2468 Team Appreciate, Westlake High School, Austin, TX
Imagery Award In Honor of Jack Kamen	Team 2996 Cougars Gone Wired, Coronado High School, CO
Volunteer of the Year Award	Daniel Conder

Important Dates

March 1, 2018: FRC® Competition: Robot inspection and practice rounds
March 2, 2018: FRC® Competition: Competition day 1
March 3, 2018: FRC® Competition: Competition day 2, finals, and awards ceremony