2012 FIRST Championship Celebrates Science, Technology and Robots
12,000 Students from 32 Countries and Their Robots
Compete in International Robotics Championship

League City -- Over the weekend of April 25-28, 30,000 participants, fans, families, educators and industry leaders celebrated students’ engineering and robotics prowess at the annual FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, held in St. Louis, Missouri at the Edward Jones Dome. The Clear Creek ISD robotics team, The Robonauts, qualified to participate in the FRC championships after winning the Lone Star Regional competition in Houston.

The team is comprised of CCISD high school students from Clear Brook, Clear Creek, Clear Horizons, Clear Falls, Clear Lake and Clear Springs High Schools and is mentored by NASA-Johnson Space Center. The Robonauts along with their alliance partners, team 548 Robostang, from Northville Michigan and Team 2194 Fondy Fire from Fond du Lac, Wi, were able clinch the Newton Division Title after defeating the opposing alliance with a score of 90 to 75. This victory gave the Newton Alliance the opportunity to compete with the winners of the other three divisions for the title of World Champions. “Unfortunately due to some technical difficulties The Robonauts and their robot Endeavour were eliminated during the Einstein semifinal,” explained CCISD Robotics Coordinator Luis Medina, “This was the team’s best season in its 16-year history and we are extremely proud of our students.”

The FRC challenge was “Rebound RumbleSM,” where matches are played between two Alliances of three teams each. Each Alliance competes by trying to score as many of the basketballs in the hoops as possible during the two-minute and 15-second match. Balls scored in higher hoops score teams more points. Team Alliances are awarded bonus points if they are balanced on bridges at the end of the match.

This year marked the 21st season of the FRC high-school-level program. In its initial competition year, FIRST hosted an FRC program with 28 teams in a New Hampshire high school gym. This year, 2,343 FIRST teams in 12 countries participated in 52 Regional events, 15 District Competitions, and two Region Championships.

FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) Championship – FRC combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to fundraise, design a brand, exercise teamwork, and build and program robots to perform tasks against competitors.