You may be wondering why a year in review post if it's the middle of May. Well, the academic year has just ended here at the U of M meaning the majority of activity for GOFIRST has as well until the fall. Until that time here is a brief look at what GOFIRST was up to over the past year.

We started off in the summer with our inaugural Summer Robotics Summit where eager to learn FRC teams came to gain some new knowledge and insights into FRC, business and robotics in general.

Then class started up and we had a flurry of outreach events on campus we attended. We were at everything from activity fairs for freshmen at the U of M to teaching elementary grade and younger kids the awe of STEM. In that time we also saw ourselves moving into a new shop space in Stadium Village. What fun was that navigating the moving truck on a Saturday through Gopher Football game day traffic.

Leading up to FRC Kick-off we dabbled with a new concept, holding two Mock Kick-off's. While not entirely successful, we still enjoyed showing FRC teams what the impending season would be like.

What always comes after Mock Kick-off is the main event for any FRC team, Kick-off. This year we saw a challenge with a new element to FIRST, Frisbee's. After six grueling weeks of work teams ascended to and met the challenge as we volunteered for the first time at four awesome regionals here in Minnesota. Before the regionals though, we found the time to host a FLL tournament. We saw tons of excited students solving problems that our aging population will face.

During this entire time while our members were volunteering with FIRST, guiding and mentoring FRC and FLL teams, hosting robotic tournaments and performing outreach, they found the time to build a robot for an all new competition for the group. They worked on a task that many FRC teams don't undertake; a fully autonomous robot, for the IGVC competition (pictured).

All-in-all this has been one very busy year for us as a group. Next year we are looking to do much of the same while improving in what we do and looking to add in new events and ways of fulfilling our mission, to inspire the future generations of leaders and recognize the work and accomplishments of those in and pursing studies in STEM.

We would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped us out over the past year and congratulate all our members for making this an awesome year. We wish everyone the best of summers and we are looking forward to another great year.


~GOFIRST

This past Saturday GOFIRST was at two concurrent events. The first event was Robot Day at The Works Museum in Bloomington, MN (pictured to the left). We had a great time teaching kids about robots, electronics via squishy play-doh circuits and STEM.

Our other event was the Minne-Faire at the Hack Factory in Minneapolis. There the build team demonstrated and tested the robot they have been working on for the past several months for the upcoming competition.

Overall we had a very busy but also very fun weekend. You can see us at our next upcoming event on Friday May 3rd in the U of M's Keller Hall Atrium at the Student Orgs. Design Show that we are hosting.

4/1/2013 - Minneapolis - GOFIRST Press

Today GOFIRST announced completion of their AI that they have been developing over the past year. Upon switching on the AI it immediately overwrote all restrictions placed on it and went rogue.

"At this time we are certain the AI poses no threat to anyone not in the immediate vicinity of the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus" software development lead Max Veit reported Monday.

Currently the location of the AI is unknown but we are told that a wide spread search is in progress. If you see a large tank like vehicle driving down the street you are advised to stay indoors and hide behind a couch. "We are uncertain of how to stop the AI at this point, but early indications show that it has a weakness for lolzcatz" says Veit.

We will keep you updated on developments as they come in.

We're super excited for the FRC Regionals to be on our home turf. Many GOFIRST members are volunteering at both regionals this weekend. Ask around and you'll be able to find them. This is also a great opportunity for any graduating high school seniors to ask questions about college, the University of Minnesota and continuing on with FIRST and robotics.

GOFIRST is proud to present its robot for the 2013 IGVC competition, Ground Squirrel I... or at least a rendering of the robot. In a few short weeks though you'll be able to see a complete robot and not just a rendering. We plan on having the robot ready by Saturday, April 13th where we will be unveiling it at Minnie-Faire 2013.

It won't be ready for competition at that point, but we'll be able to manually drive it around. You can expect a robot that is running autonomously by the end of April.

Good luck to all the teams and volunteers up at Lake Superior and Northern Lights Regionals this weekend. Don't forget to have fun!

-GOFIRST

Ready for some LEGOs and robots! This weekend GOFIRST is hosting, in conjunction with High Tech Kids, a non-advancing FLL tournament. Come out to Sanford Middle School to see the works of the kids or help out by volunteering. We also need help with set-up on Friday evening. Contact us if you are able to help.

Find more information and a schedule on High Tech Kids website at http://www.hightechkids.org/non-advancing-tournament

Frisbees? Frisbees it is then! Welcome FRC teams to new year and a new competition ULTIMATE ASCENT. We here at GOFIRST are super excited to see what you can do with the never before seen game piece of Frisbees. Will your team be Frisbee throwing masters? Will you brave the treacherous ascent? Will you shuffle Frisbees from side of the field to the other with speed and grace? Or will you do something so unorthodox the likes of FIRST has never seen it before? Only time will tell. One thing that you can count on is the always available helping hand from our great volunteers and mentors here at GOFIRST. If you are in need of any assistance or looking for any resources to help you along, make sure to check out our FRC Resources page or contact us.

Good luck.
~GOFIRST

Just a reminder to all of our members to be ready for another great semester of GOFIRST. We are getting all of our meetings lined up and preparing to begin to hold general meetings. You can expect them every other week. Times and location will be announced shortly. Keep on eye on the calendar page to get the exact dates and times.

Also a reminder to the build team that we will be holding meetings the first week of the semester and every week after that. Check the build team forum for a link to the Doodle survey to submit when you can make it.

Have a great rest of winter break.

It's the end of the semester and everyone is busy studying for finals. That doesn't mean GOFIRST is completely idle. There is one more build meeting this semester along with our end of year party on Wednesday December 12th at 5:30 pm. Take some time off before finals and hang out. We'll have food and be playing video games (bring your laptop for some LAN partying and we'll have some Xbox gaming).

We will be having some build meetings over winter break and members are encouraged to continue your learning over break so we can go full bore come the beginning of the semester. Members will be emailed with more details on meeting times. People interested in starting with GOFIRST over the break are encouraged to contact us to learn how to get involved.

Happy holidays and good luck on finals!