The DePrince Family Chronicles: Robots, Bobots... Everywhere!

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN!!!!!! ROBOT, BOBOTS, EVERYWHERE!!!!! Last month you all got to see little Anthony helping Daddy building robot (see entry for February 14th)! Well, now it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned competition! The whole gang went down to see Daddy’s Team... Camden County Technical School’s Team #203 and “One T.U.F.F. Robot- Rocky”... do their thing! What an experience!!!!!! Hmmm... wait a sec, I guess we should start by explaining what in the world the "Robot Competition" is….

The Competition is developed by F.I.R.S.T. Robotics, which means "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". F.I.R.S.T. was founded by Dean Kamen and their vision is "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."[

1] Their mission is simple- “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.”[2] Through emphasizing the concept of “Gracious Professionalism”, or doing things in a way that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community[3], teams learn that fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended. In the long run, Gracious Professionalism is part of pursuing a meaningful life. One can add to society and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing one has acted with integrity and sensitivity.[4]

So that’s a little about the organization that runs the Competition, here is an overview of how we actually get there. In early January, Big Anthony and Uncle John (the other coach) fly to Dean Kamen’s home in New Hampshire and attend a giant meeting with all of the other coaches. At that meeting, the coaches are given the specifics and guidelines for a game. Each Team will have to build a Robot to "play" the game they were given the guidelines. The game usually has a host of problems which the coaches and students need to solve, to do which they solicit the assistance of various engineers. The Team has 6 weeks to solve all the problems, build a functioning robot, and ship it off to Annapolis for the very first competition. As you can imagine, this is not much time to build accomplish all of this, so the Team works all most around the clock, even Saturdays and Sundays, to get the job done! But in the end, when “Rocky the Robot” is all packed up and sitting in it’s crate and ready for shipping, it is sooooo worth it! The kids are always so proud of the job they do and every single year, they do a TERRIFIC JOB!

So, now you know all about F.I.R.S.T., here are some more pics of our first 2009 F.I.R.S.T. Competition! The kids, including ours, all had a BLAST! The entire DePrince clan went down to cheer on TEAM #203 and we even won a very prestigious award… the “Judges Safety Award”! We are so proud of the job Daddy does with the kids at school, as well as the job the kids did down in Annapolis!