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Please provide a warm welcome to your tournament MC, Rene Haro.
Good morning, Aerospace Valley.
Welcome to the 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition,
and this year's challenge, Rapid React,
presented by The Boeing Company.
Drivers, behind the lines.
3, 2, 1, go.
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FIRST stands for For Inspiration, Recognition
in Science and Technology.
They teach all facets of engineering.
What it's about is building teamwork and relationships,
and giving kids the tools they need to succeed in life.
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OK, you got [INAUDIBLE].
You got a bunch right over here.
Here, here--
Pretty cool to see what these kids built.
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The mentors guide them.
Yes, right there.
OK.
Try to get to it.
Get to it.
We got it.
But the kids are doing all the design.
The kids are figuring out what they
want their robot to look like.
And we just help them figure out how to get there.
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Lot of contact here.
And they have to develop a strategy
to build a robot that makes the most points,
given what the game is.
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It usually involves some kind of ball
that you can pick up off the ground.
And then you have to throw it into a hoop,
like a basketball hoop.
And this year, the other task that you have to do
is climb across monkey bars.
So the robots actually have to stand up, grab
a bar, then traverse the bars at different levels.
Being on a robotics team has taught me
how to work with others well, as well as
how to be a good leader when you need to be.
It's allowed me to learn a lot about myself and a lot
about working with others.
And they're skills that I'll use for the rest of my life.
Shoot!
There you go.
NASA has an interest in it because the kids that
are coming up through this program
are given the tools where they will be on that path,
ready-made to come and join us.
And they are sought after because they
have the skills for the 21st century that businesses want.
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They look at resumes for new hires.
And when they see FIRST, those are things that they look for.
Because they know the kids have the skills
to do real world projects and solve real world problems.
I think NASA is a great program that I'd be looking forward
to go to, especially because we have so many resources out
in the Valley.
I plan to go into engineering when I'm in college.
So it's really great to have all this prior experience
beforehand.
I think even with all the engineering classes
I'm taking at school, it's great to be continuing this
after school, and be able to do so many hours into it.
We've got a traversal climb in the works in blue.
You'll see students here from all walks of life.
Two on the one ending.
And they're all contributing.
And so we want diversity at NASA.
Looks even on the end.
This is going to be close.
In 3, in 2, in 1.
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All those experiences that these kids have just--
they make a better, stronger workforce.
I think it's a great inspiration for people in younger grades
that they're seeing more girls like us in this field,
so that they can continue to do it, too.
My dream career is to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
On your right!
Because I want to build a space probe
that goes out past our solar system.
I want to learn more about our neighboring universes
and just explore the cosmos.
Yeah!
Yes!
From being young and playing with LEGOs
to now building robots, it's an amazing experience.
And I've had so much fun in FIRST Robotics.
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OK.
So this room, this is the pits.
This is where the robots come back to after a match.
If something breaks, these guys got to fix it.
They've got to fix it fast.
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Yeah!
Oh!
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So they've got to have spares.
They've got to do some quick fabrication
to replace those parts.
And they've got to get back out there.
I love robots.
Yeah.
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Two minutes remaining.
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