We still need Volunteers
for March 14-16 FRC Tournament
FIRST is a volunteer-driven organization and needs your help! The Pittsburgh Regional, March 14-16, 2013 needs volunteers, age 16 and older, to help make the Pittsburgh Regional a success. Volunteer positions include robot inspectors, team queuers, field reset, safety glasses attendants and more. These positions require little to no technical experience and any time you could give is greatly appreciated. Please e-mail Ali Marinari at firstpittsburghvolunteers@
Posted in News
Week Zero Event at the FRC Regional Practice Field: Saturday, Feb 16, 11 am – 4 pm
Week Zero Event at the FRC Regional Practice Field:
Saturday, Feb 16, 11 am – 4 pm
The Week Zero Event is scheduled for 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday, February 16th at the FRC Regional Practice Field.
Come to the practice field even if your robot isn’t ready – you will not be alone - because other teams will be there to help. Please RSVP to Shana (leshkos@theellisschool.org) so we will know how many tables to set up for teams.
Everyone is welcome to tour the facility to see the Ultimate Ascent field pieces set up.
The field will also be open on Thursday from 5 pm to 8:30 pm.
All guests must bring the CMU release form the first time they come to the field.
MAP AND CONTACT INFO – FRC Regional Practice Field
Posted in News
KDKA and Team 1743!
Students Combining Science, Technology, Sports To Create Robots
February 6, 2013 5:55 PM
Reporting Dave Crawley
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Forty-five robots, built by students, will take the floor at the Petersen Events Center March 15.
Winners move on to the First Robotics national competition in Saint Louis. They have six weeks to finish their creations.
“We’re either going to replace this small gear with a larger gear, or we’re going to flip the two,” said Nathan McKerley while examining a partially-constructed robot with fellow seniors Denesha Moorefield and Montario Meggett of City Charter HighSchool in Downtown Pittsburgh.
“There’s some stakes to it,” McKerley says. “It’s not just getting a grade, or it’s not just graduation. It’s a chance to compete against other teams and showcase what you’ve learned.”
The clock is ticking. They’ll load the finished robot into a van on Thursday, March 14, and transport it to Petersen Events Center for two full days of competition.
Meggett says it will have to toss frisbees into goals set up above the floor.
“Shoot the frisbee, how high or low. And move to one side, or another side. Back and forth,” Meggett said.
Teacher and robotics coach Marshall Kohnen says the team hopes to match successes of the past. City Charter High School won regional events in 2006 and 2009.
“We bring 100 to 200 underclassmen, ninth, 10th, 11th graders, to the competition,” Kohnen says. “And they just go crazy. Dancing, cheering, yelling. It’s a really good time.”
Classmates pitch in, selling buttons and baked goods, to help pay their team’s expenses. It’s a feel-good event for teammates and opponents alike.
“The majority of people on the other team you’ll probably be in college with, in engineering or something,” Nathan McKerley says. “You’ll see them again later in life.”
Then, perhaps, they’ll be working side to side, instead of face to face.
Posted in Press Releases
