Yesterday, Star Wars: Force for Change and FIRST launched the “Build My Droid” contest to inspire the next generation of heroes and innovators in STEM and the creative arts as well as raise awareness of FIRST. Good Morning America officially launched the promotion this morning on live TV, Facebook and Twitter.

In this contest administered by The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm, fans and artists ages 16 and up have a chance to design a droid that will be featured in a future story set in the Star Wars galaxy. The competition kicks off in the lead up to the highly anticipated final chapter in the Skywalker saga – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Eligible contestants are invited to submit their droid design in the form of a sketch, drawing, or painting at starwars.com/buildmydroidcontest by November 13, 2019. The winning designer will be invited to the film’s world premiere in December to witness the public debut of their droid design on the red carpet and livestream.  FIRST founder Dean Kamen will be participating on the judging panel. An article about the contest can be found on StarWars.com.

POWERED BY

• FTC and FRC Team questions. Ron Therrien, Assistant Director of Programs. Phone 443.996.7000.
• FTC and FRC Volunteer questions. Sarah Gagnon, Assistant Director of Volunteer and Community Outreach. Phone 804.380.5165.
• FTC and FRC Event logistics. Glen Davis, Logistics Manager. Phone 804.928.3506.
• FTC and FRC team grants, FIRST Senior Mentors, NextUp RVA after school programs, and all other questions. Leighann Boland, Executive Director. Phone 804.514.7712.

The Virginia Council on Women will provide one merit-based and one need-based scholarship to high school seniors in each of the five geographic regions across the Commonwealth through a STEM essay contest. This year, merit-based scholarships will be awarded based on the quality of the essay submitted, and the need-based scholarships will be awarded based on the quality of the essay and the individual's self-identified financial need. Award amounts may vary and are determined by the Council annually.  

Contest ends: Friday, January 10, 2020

https://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/advisory-boards/council-on-women/stem-essay-contest/

From the FIRSTinspires webpage: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/blog/2020-virtual-field

Last year, a team of FIRST supporters worked together to assemble a suite of ways that teams could virtually experience Planet Primus. I’m happy to announce that the team is back, and excited about making a virtual 2020 field accessible too.

The suite of assets included videos, mobile tools, VR headset applications, desktop content (digital and literal – there was a 3D printable field too!), and simulations. You can peruse all the details on the Playing Field webpage, but the list below will give you a general sense of these goodies:

• Autodesk
• Synthesis, a robotics simulator built for FRC teams

• AutomationDirect.com
• a 3D printable field
• the game animation
• HTC Vive/Oculus Rift experience

• NASA
• Robotics Alliance Project app for Android (link no good)
• web viewer
• photo album
• PTC
• scalable field model on a mobile device using Vuforia
• Siemens
• Dust off the cardboard viewer in the Kickoff Kit last year to see any of the mobile phone apps in an immersive way.
• SOLIDWORKS
• 360 field views and hot spot tours using Visualize on a computer and/or mobile device
• point to point dimensioning using eDrawings on a computer and/or mobile device
• HTC Vive/Oculus Rift experience
• WPI
• photo album

The developers strongly encourage you to spend some time getting acquainted with the different hardware and platforms (depending on what’s accessible to you) this fall so that come Kickoff, all you need to do is update the content and you’re off and running safely walking around the INFINITE RECHARGE^SM field.

Last and certainly not least, a great big thank you to the developer team. This wouldn’t happen without your help. 

Enjoy the show!