After six weeks of intensive, nonstop work (and fun) building a robot named Woodrow Flora, the FRC Team 1164 – Project NEO robotics team from Las Cruces packed up their robot and “put it into the bag” on February 20 as required while they continue to prepare for the upcoming FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC). Project NEO will compete against teams from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Arkansas, as well as four teams from Mexico. The El Paso Regional Competition is Friday, March 30, through Saturday, March 31, from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day, at Judson F. Williams Convention Center, One Civic Plaza, El Paso, TX. The competition is open to the public and is free of charge.
FRC Team 1164 - Project NEO started in 2003 at Mayfield High School with a handful of students, two teachers, and two engineers and worked out of a parent’s garage. Since then the team has had over 175 student members, is a city-wide team, has a permanent home at Arrowhead Park Early College High School, and is the oldest sustaining FIRST team in New Mexico. This year the team is made up of 22 students from Mayfield, Las Cruces, Centennial, and Arrowhead Park Early College high schools, and Lynn and Picacho middle schools. Graduates from Project NEO have an 85% rate of pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields.
FRC Team 1164 – Project NEO also hosts two FIRST LEGO League Jr Expos and a FIRST LEGO League Qualifier each year. FIRST LEGO League Junior is for children ages 6–10 and FIRST LEGO League is for students ages 9–14. In addition to hosting Expos and Qualifiers, Project NEO students coach teams, train coaches, and hold help sessions to support both FLL Jr and FLL. Over 400 students will be active in FIRST programs hosted by FRC Team 1164 – Project NEO in Las Cruces and the surrounding area during the 2017-2018 season.
According to Project NEO team member Rigel Liefeld, “Before joining Project NEO I never thought of myself as enjoying working with power tools, but now I do and I love being able to help design and build our robot. It has been an incredible opportunity and I have learned so much about leadership and teamwork, beyond just building a robot. This is my fourth year on the team and I'm really excited about the competition this year because it's held close enough that we hope a lot of friends and family are able to watch.”
Project NEO, led by co-captains Liz Furr and Jill Cox, spent roughly 140 hours building and programming their robot from the January 6 FRC kickoff to the midnight February 20 “Stop Build Day” deadline when teams were required to cease all work on the robot and “bag and tag” it for the FRC. Team members and mentors each put in about 18 hours a week, including weekends, preparing for the competition.
The robot, Woodrow Flora, is named after Woody Flowers, who graciously gave his permission to the team to name their robot after him. In 1990, Flowers began working with Dean Kamen to found FIRST, a project to inspire a culture that celebrates science and technology. In 1996, FRC created the Woodie Flowers award, which was awarded to Flowers that year. Flowers has served every year as National Advisor to FIRST and he is active at FIRST events, working as an emcee and treated, along with Kamen, like a “hero”.
Now in its 27th season, the FIRST Robotics game this season is called FIRST POWER UPSM and is based on 1980s video games. It involves two alliances of three teams each, with each team controlling a robot and performing specific tasks on a field to score points. The game has a retro 8-bit theme and teams are required to place milk crates, or "power cubes", on large balancing scales to tip the scale and gain ownership. Alliances can also trade power cubes for “power ups”, giving them a temporary advantage in a match. At the end of the match, robots can climb the tower attached to the center balancing scale using a rung attached to the tower, giving them additional points.
FIRST conducts the largest robotics competition in the world. There are more than 25,000 teams worldwide. The FRC is the ultimate sport for young minds in grades 9–12. FIRST Robotics Competitions are the big leagues. Students must compete under strict rules, fewer resources, and a challenging six-week time limit. Teams of 20 or more must work together to construct and program an industrial-sized robot that will play a challenging field game against opponents. The teams must design a brand for their team, raise money, and do extensive community outreach. Professional mentors volunteer their time to guide the young engineers, and participants gain access to a vast array of college scholarships.
Winning teams from FRCs will advance to the national championships, held this year in Houston and Detroit. More than 1400 teams competed in the 2017 championships.
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FIRST is more than robots. FIRST participation is proven to encourage students to pursue education and careers in STEM-related fields, inspire them to become leaders and innovators, and enhance their 21st century work-life skills. Learn more about FIRST by visiting https://www.firstinspires.org/about/impact.
Southern New Mexico STEM Alliance is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting FIRST Robotics in Southern New Mexico. SNMSA provides financial assistance and leadership for local teams and FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Junior competitions. For additional information about SNMSA, please email info@snmsa.org.