Safe robotics: Mythbusters star in safety video for 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition

Rockford, IL – Grant Imahara, Mythbusters host and a robot builder, stars in the new FIRST Robotics instructional safety video from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International (FMA) and UL Laboratories. The 6-minute production is accessible online by 37,000 high school students participating in the FIRST Robotics program, which kicked off nationwide this month. Control Engineering provides a

look inside one FIRST Robotics team with comments from participants

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Watch the new FIRST Robotics safety video at www.fma-foundation.org/Safety/SafetyVideo.cfm

The video contains “guest appearances” by Sir Isaac Newton and Ben Franklin and highlights the importance of wearing safety goggles, proper footwear, protective gloves, and ear protection, as well as the necessity of reporting injuries. It discusses how to use tools and power strips properly and how to safely move completed robotic projects in the workshop and during competitions.The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a 6-week timeframe via a standard kit of parts and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions judged by a committee of engineers and other professionals.“The FIRST Robotics Competition is designed to help high-school-aged young people discover the joys of innovating and creating,” said Jim Warren, FMA director of education. “We are pleased to have the participation of Grant Imahara to help us reach out to youth about this exciting competition and convey key safety messages.”Imahara, a six-year FIRST Robotics mentor, believes that the competition is an opportunity to get kids interested in making things. “I’ve found that students really dedicate themselves to the program,” he said. “Being involved in a robotics program has cachet for a young person. Activities like these that have a goal and real purpose behind them, are easy for kids to get excited about– and hopefully will eventually lead to careers in manufacturing. Kids are learning incredibly valuable skills when they take a concept to completion and translate ideas into reality.”The Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters features hosts who set up experiments using a science and special effects to re-create and debunk potentially false, but common, urban legends. In the process, sometimes the team’s experiments prove the odd myth to be true.The FMA and UL .Also read:

Robotics Championship 2008.

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