By Billie Nagy

Traveling to the St. Louis FIRST Robotics World Championship Competition was a fun, yet busy time. Because of the early competition schedules, the team had to wake up at the crack of dawn, grab a quick brown bag breakfast that was prepared by the hotel, and rush out to catch the metro that was about a half mile away, quickly eating in an effort to beat the crowds to the stadium and prepare the game plan for that day.

The first morning of the competition was by far the most crowded I had seen. Essentially, the entire downtown area appeared flooded by the plethora of brilliant minds, buses and trailers, food and water packs/containers, and heavy-duty instrument and spare parts for the robots. As some of us took the later tram to the arena, we were forced to wait outside in the slightly chilly weather, practically shoulder to shoulder with those of the other teams who kept the excitement alive by having mini disco parties and pumping “Everybody Dance Now” by C&C Music Factory.

Overall, what first appeared like a long wait to enter the building quickly faded into an exuberant and exciting journey, talking with other teams, listening to the cheering masses, and finally entering the enormous dome filled with some 40,000 kids, mentors, parents, and robots flying every which way. Oh, and it didn’t stop there. This only marked the start of the feverish five-day event.

After watching many thrilling matches, I found myself wandering all around the arena, exploring every crevice of the multi-leveled enormous dome, everywhere from the main FRC pit area (where all of the non-competing robots were being fixed and reworked), to the multi-cultural LEGO League (K-8 robotics groups from around the world), and eventually out and about in the downtown area.

I will say, however, finding and getting food to everyone was a slight challenge. Really, the main reason for walking extensively through the beautiful downtown area was to find food for the hungry TPA kids who were each extremely busy with their own tasks – especially since three days of pizza delivery wouldn’t suffice. Early on we found (along with every other robotics team) a rather nice supermarket not too far away, so we were able to get a few sandwich lunch runs in and any other supplies needed.

Back in the arena, we had a few hours to kill before the next TPA match occurred, so we ventured through the pit area again and eventually came across a quite impressively enhanced vehicle – the NASA Mobile Tech Lab – from Kennedy Space Center. We were invited inside and graciously given a complete tour of the intricate space, learning that NASA actually live streams the whole competition, and was able to broadcast the event to their website all around the world.

Speaking of NASA, another unique feature of attending the competition was the chance to attend the Renaissance Grand Hotel’s “Innovation Faire” located just across from the arena, in which recruiters from large companies and colleges/universities searched for the best and the brightest students, while displaying their newest and greatest innovations in technology. The draw was major entities like Nvidia, Raytheon, NASA, Navy, Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, MIT, Yale, Boston University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Also present were companies like Disney, who were promoting a challenge for FRC competitors to create the next innovative idea for changing the world, where the winner will be given the grand prize of a personal 3-D printer. Other than the robotics competition, the Innovation Faire was a special highlight of the trip.

On Monday morning, as the TPA All Knights First Robotics team were back at school, my family stayed one more day in St. Louis as all the flights were full coming back home. On this last day, we decided to visit the campus of Washington University, and walked all throughout its beautiful, lush, tree-lined grounds and old stone buildings. But, alas, there were no formal tours available in early brisk morning. Nonetheless, it was still a sublime experience to be able to visit this prestigious university.

Having the opportunity to be able to travel to St. Louis for the FRC Robotics Competition truly was one of the greatest and most memorable experiences I had this year.