The Design Award expands on this year's challenge, inspiring teams to incorporate industrial design into their robots. These elements are functional and aesthetic, and can be shown in the simplicity of the design as it applies to the tasks, the look and feel of the robot, and how the design allows us to think of robots in new ways. The robot should be durable, efficiently designed, and effectively address the game challenge.

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team's design was simple yet effective. They took the MEASURE of their competitors and swung into first place. King Kong would be envious of their skyscrapers.

Winner: Team 5485 Gorillabots

2nd Place: Team 6964 Igutech        3rd Place: Team 8645 Robotic Doges

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

The judges were impressed with this team's use of sensors. Like every busy robotics team, they didn't want to get OVEREXTENDED. They knew that all their robot needed was a RED DOT to hit the spot.

Winner: Team 11792 Botsburgh

2nd Place: Team 12538 eBorg Robotics        3rd Place: Team 14824 LiveWires

The Connect Award is presented to the team that the Judges' feel most connected with their local community, FIRST and the business world. The best team is more than the sum of its parts, and recognizes that their schools and communities play an essential part to their success. The recipient of this award is recognized for helping the community understand FIRST, the FIRST Tech Challenge, and the team itself. In addition, the team that wins this award is aggressively seeking engineers and other STEM professionals and exploring the opportunities available in the world of science and technology.

Here is what the judges had to say:Taking the lead among the field of teams, this team stands out both at competitions and in their community. Their focus on learning helps them SOAR as they share the ideals of FIRST with other teams and professionals. There's no need for them to RISE FROM THE ASHES today - they're on fire!

The Think Award is given to the team that the Judges feel best reflects the journey of the engineering design process. The engineering notebook is the key reference for Judges to help them identify the most deserving team. This team's engineering notebook focused on the design and build stages of the team's robot and exemplified their journey as a team and engineers.

Here is what the judges had to say:

The judges were impressed with this team's attention to the smallest details. Their annotated drawings and explanation of lessons learned emphasized their DIFFERENTIATED THINKING. This GARDEN STATE team's notebook is blossoming with linear algebra and blooming with multivariable calculus.

Winner: Team 12538 eBorg Robotics

2nd Place: Team 16330 Javengers       3rd Place: Team 7423 Flaming Phoenix

The Inspire Award is presented to the Team that the Judges felt truly embodied the 'challenge' of the FIRST Tech Challenge program. The Team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and works to promote FIRST and make it loud in their community. The Team that receives this Award has performed well in all Judging categories and was chosen by the Judges as a model FIRST Tech Challenge team both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the Judges. Working as a unit, this team will have shown success in performing the task of designing and building a robot. The Judges used observations made during interviews and in the pit area, the team's engineering notebook, and performance on the playing field in determining the winner.

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team shows that the sky is the limit. Their love of JAVA is shown in their engineering notebooks. These SUPERHEROES show great team spirit and a passion for FIRST.

Winner: Team 16330 Javengers

2nd Place: Team 8645 Robotic Doges      3rd Place: Team 7423 Flaming Phoenix