2014 FRC Orlando Regional March 14-16, 2014 Report Fun FACTS Game –Aerial Assist # Teams – 62 States – FL, GA, LA, MS, SC, TX Countries – Brazil, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico # of teams advancing to Championship - 6 # Judges – 25 # Sponsors – 27 # Volunteers – 200 Total Attendance – 1500 The Orlando Regional Planning Committee, Foundation, sponsors, volunteers and Executive Board Members celebrated the 16th year of highly successful regionals at University of Central Florida and Kennedy Space Center. This accomplishment is a tribute to the outstanding support of so many individuals who believe in the FIRST FRC program. Students, teachers, mentors, parents and friends demonstrated Gracious Professionalism™, teamwork and the passion to learn “Real world engineering”. On behalf of the entire Orlando Regional Team we thank all those who worked so hard to make the 2014 season an outstanding success. Chris Fairey - Florida FIRST Robotics Education Foundation Chair Orlando Regional The game was called Aerial Assist, which challenged the teams to design robots that is played by two competing Alliances of three robots each on a flat 25’ x 54’ foot field, straddled by a truss suspended just over five feet above the floor. The objective is to score as many balls in goals as possible during a two (2)-minute and 30-second match. The more Alliances score their ball in their goals, and the more they work together to do it, the more points their Alliance receives. The Regional again welcomed the RoboShow provided by Mobius Productions volunteers; On-Demand, which provided edited replays of each match on YouTube for access by all of the teams plus RoboShow; and Thursday workshops on various topics of interest to teams. NASA Kennedy Space Center continued to provide World Wide Web streaming of the competition. Thanks to the Regional Co-Hosts; University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Engineering and Computer Science and NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and all the sponsors of the Regional, providing sponsorship and in-kind support, $154,500 was donated. The estimate for costs for the 2014 Orlando Regional will be covered in the amount donated. There were 6 teams advancing to the Championship (Teams from Cocoa, Gainesville, Orlando and Stuart, Fl, Columbia, SC and Dominican Republic) VIP Luncheon The VIP Luncheon was attended by 110 leaders of industry, academia, state and federal government and FIRST staff. The Keynote speaker was Randy Berridge, President of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. FIRST Volunteer of the Year Award The Orlando Regional is blessed with many talented volunteers who dedicate their time, talents and energy. The award is presented to an individual, business, or organization that consistently excels in their efforts with proven results in the areas of Impact, Leadership, Personal Commitment, Community and Historical Contributions. The 2014 award winners were Sarah Plemmons and Wayne Weinberg. FIRST Alumni Program The Orlando Regional is proud to host a state wide Alumni program for individuals that have graduated from a FIRST team and continue to stay involved and promote FIRST robotics. We would like to highlight one of the Orlando Regional committee members who is a FIRST Alumni. Barry Bohnsack the Chair of Alumni on the Orlando Regional Planning committee, and a 2005 FIRST alumni from Harmony High School team 1604. Barry began volunteering with FIRST LEGO League his senior year of high school, and has continued his service every year since. After graduating high school Barry went to Valencia College and UCF, and became the play-by-play game announcer for the Orlando Regional and numerous FIRST Tech Challenge tournaments. He also began mentoring another team in Central Florida, Exploding Bacon. While Barry received awards throughout his college career, including being named to the USA-Today AllAcademic team, and graduated at the top of his collegiate class with a 4.0 GPA, he credits his experience with FIRST for being the largest impact in helping him start his career. While mentoring Exploding Bacon he had the opportunity to work alongside Lockheed Martin employees, and he was convinced it would be a great company to work for. Barry has been at Lockheed Martin for 4 years and today is an engineering planner and cost analyst. He has logged over 500 volunteer hours per year serving FIRST since being hired. Orlando Regional Web Site Visit our web site www.orlandofrc.org to view pictures, video links, award winners, committee members, sponsors and game history. 2014 Orlando Regional Sponsors Co-Hosts: University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Science and NASA Kennedy Space Center Sponsors: (Alphabetical Order) Boeing Company, Craig Technologies, DeVry University, Electronic Art, Embraer, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Fl High Tech Corridor, Harris Corp, Learning is for Everyone, Lockheed Martin, Masie Center, Möbius Production LLC, Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ North America, RINI Technologies, Siemens Energy, Stage Equipment and Lighting, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, United Launch Alliance, University of Florida, University of South Florida, US Army ROTC, URS, Walt Disney Company Executive Advisory Board: Dr. Cammy Abernathy , Dean, Professor Material Science University of Florida College of Engineering; Mr. Randy Berridge, President, Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Inc. ; Dr. Michael Georgiopoulos, Dean UCF College of Engineering & Computer Science; Mr. Greg Hale, VP, Chief Safety Officer Walt Disney Parks & Resorts; Mr. Chester Kennedy, VP Engineering Lockheed Martin Global Training & Logistics; Dr. Rafael A. Perez, Professor and Interim Dean College of Engineering University of South Florida; Dr. Maj Mirmirani, Dean and Professor College of Engineering Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Dr. Daniel P. Rini, President RINI Technologies, Inc.; Ms. Beverly Seay, VP & GM (Global) CAE Integrated Enterprise Solutions; Dr. Pat Simpkins, Director, Ground Processing Directorate, Kennedy Space Center Florida FIRST Robotics Education Foundation-a 501(c)(3) Florida Non-Profit Corporation Developing Florida’s future high tech work force Chair- Chris Fairey, Vice Chair – Wayne Weinberg, Treasurer – Kathleen Harer, Secretary- Nancy Knobbs Members: Erik Halleus, Sarah Plemmons, FIRST Florida Regional Director Chuck Kennedy Ex-Officio Member: FIRST Central Florida Regional Director – Terri Willingham