Dean Kamen Visits Battlefield High School for FIRST Stronghold Competition

Battlefield High School's FRC Team 1885 executed with style to deliver an action packed tournament made even more exciting by the appearance of FIRST founder Dean Kamen.  After visiting with students and signing autographs on anything and everything from a camera to a robot bumper, Mr. Kamen, inventor of the Segway PT, Autosyringe, iBOT wheelchair and Slingshot water purification system welcomed teams to the competition and remarked how great it was to see the intense robot competition, FIRST STRONGHOLD, played at a high school named Battlefield.

FIRST STRONGHOLD,  is the medieval themed robotics game played by FIRST Robotics Competition Teams for 2016.  In rounds of two-and-a-half minutes of fast-paced action, two alliances of three robots each collaborate to breach their opponents' strategically selected fortifications, weaken their opponents' castle tower with boulders, and in the last seconds surround, scale and capture the opposing tower.  FIRST Robotics teams around the world have six weeks to design, program, build and test their robot for competition.  Assisted by coaches and adult mentors, many from engineering and technology corporations, each team uses sound engineering practices to build a unique robot without instructions.  FRC robots weigh up to 120 pounds.  Power tools, costumes, spontaneous line dancing and decorative team standards used to rally knights to battle all contribute to the festive competitive atmosphere for this year's tournaments.

Battlefield High School hosted thirty-nine teams from Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia at the Northern Virginia District FIRST Robotics Competition sponsored by Bechtel.  One of seven district qualifying events leading to the Chesapeake District Championship at the University of Maryland's Xfinity Center in April. 

Robotics teams with names like Warbots, Tech Titans and Dogs of Steel joined excited fans and more than a hundred volunteers with job titles such as flag ninja and fantastic floater to cheer on all the teams from across the DC, Virginia, Maryland region that came to compete.  Adding to the excitement and enjoyment of the day for the host team, Mr. Kamen joined Coach Gail Drake, adult mentors and ILITE 1885 students in the team photo taken during a competition break.  As the host, Battlefield High School Team ILITE 1885 did not compete.  The winning three robot alliance of the day was led by FRC Team 2363, Triple Helix from Menchville High School in Newport News, Virginia partnered by FRC Team 2421 RTR Robotics, a club team of home schooled students, from Burke, Virginia and FRC Team, Vae Victis, from George Mason High School, Falls Church, Virginia.

Established in 2005 with thirty-two students, ILITE FRC Team 1885 is today one of the largest robotics programs in the mid-Atlantic region.  ILITE FRC eam 1885 based at Battlefield High School in Prince William County, Virginia is coached by Professor Gail Drake.  ILITE stands for Inspiring Leaders in Technology and Engineering.  Since winning Rookie All Star in 2006 at the FIRST Championship, ILITE FRC Team 1885 has won numerous awards including four regional Chairman's Awards and five regional Engineering Inspiration Awards.  ILITE Team 1885 engages in extensive outreach to share their love of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by holding STEM summer camps, hosting an annual STEM Expo, advocating for STEM education with national politicians and supporting robotics education at local elementary schools as well as schools in Haiti and Malaysia.  To learn more about ILITE FRC Team 1885, go to http://www.ilite.us.  Donations to support ILITE FRC Team 1885 may be sent to the attention of US STEM Foundation, 7371 Atlas Walk Way, #242, Gainesville, VA 20155.