Canada FIRST

Canada FIRST was a Canadian robotics competition similar to the FIRST Robotics Competition operated by Motivate Canada (1994) Inc. The SPAR Aerospace CANADARM Award was presented annually to the winning team. Events were usually paid entry and typically cost four dollars for students and six dollars for adults.

In 1994, FIRST allowed Bruce MacMillan to bring the 1994 FIRST game to Canada under the name CANADA FIRST (at the time, FIRST was still called US FIRST). Canada FIRST also used the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology acronym. Canada FIRST became somewhat critical of the engineer and mentor involvement in some FIRST robots and began to focus on student involvement in robot construction and other aspects of the competition.

Throughout the 90s, control system issues plagued competitions, with control boards unfit to handle high currents burning up and the event switching over to using wired tethers on one occasion. In 2002 the competition switched to using an IFI control system. Competition rules were somewhat simple and were occasionally changed days before competitions. Events were generally less organized than FIRST competitions.

With the introduction of the Canadian Regional and further international spread of FIRST in the early 2000s as well as a lack of stable ongoing funding, Canada FIRST ceased operations in July 2003. Over 11,000 students, teachers, and mentors and 140 volunteers participated in Canada FIRST over its ten-year run.

"The objective of CANADA FIRST is to stimulate young Canadians to pursue careers in the fields of math, science and technology. The project is student driven with teachers, engineers and technical mentors acting only in a coaching capacity." - Bruce MacMillan, President of Canada FIRST, 1996.

1994

The first Canada FIRST event was held at the National Hobby & Craft Show in Toronto between March 4th and 6th, 1994. Eight teams met on January 21st at a kickoff-style event where they received the rules and a kit of parts. The inaugural year's game was Tower Power, the 1994 FIRST Robotics Competition game. Turner Fenton Secondary School won the competition.

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  Getting ready for a match at the first Canada FIRST event. Other robotics and hobbyist competitions like Micromouse can be seen in the background. [1]

1995

The second Canada FIRST event took place at Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton on February 24th and 25th, 1995. Eighteen teams from Vancouver to Newfoundland competed in the game "Robot Rampage." Teams were provided with a kit of parts and had six weeks to design and build their robots. Four teams competed at once to score soccer balls in their quadrant of the field. Additional points were awarded to teams for scoring balls inside the goal in their quadrant and points were deducted for opponent balls in their quadrant.

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  A match at the 1995 Canada FIRST National competition [2]

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  Woburn High School's 1995 winning Canada FIRST robot [3]

Team 188, who became an early international FIRST team in 1998, began competing in Canada FIRST in 1995 as Team Celestica and won the event two years in a row.

1996

Eighteen teams again competed at the third Canada FIRST event on February 23rd and 24th, 1996 at Centennial College in Scarborough. The 1996 game was called Pharaoh's Pholly and involved picking up balls from a central pyramid rack and scoring them in goals in each team's quadrant of the field. Balls from higher up the pyramid were worth more points, and any balls that end the match in a team's quadrant but not in their goal count against their score. A regional pilot competition saw eight teams compete.

1997

On January 11, 1997 Canada FIRST held their first post-secondary school competition (or "Post Competition") entitled Frantech Football. Five collegiate teams competed after being shown the game in late 1996. The 1997 Canada FIRST National competition played "Tower of Power Basketball" and took place on February 20th to 22nd, 1997, in the Metropolitan Toronto area at Centennial College in Scarborough. In May, a National Qualifier competition was held. Tower of Power Basketball, seemingly also referred to as Tower Power Basketball and Tower Power (not to be confused with the 1994 FIRST Robotics Competition game Tower Power, which was also played by Canada FIRST in 1994), is played on a 24 foot square field divided into quadrants with five raised basketball hoops approximately 9 inches in diameter in the center of the field. Robots compete to score balls in the hoops, which can hold up to six balls in a plastic tube under the basket. The central taller basket can hold a single ball and will double the points of the team that can score a ball inside.

In addition to the robot game, teams were also scored on their written project documentation, a video documenting their work, and an oral presentation.

1998

The 5th annual Canada FIRST National competition was held at Heart Lake Secondary School in Brampton from February 26th to 28th, 1998. 20 teams competed in Tech Tac Toe, a strategy and skill-focused game where teams created their own scoring device for their robot to place on pylons in a row of three to complete a "Tech Tac Toe."

Canada FIRST also began handing out an award for the best team website this year.

1999

The 1999 Canada FIRST National competition was held at Centennial College's Progress Campus on February 26th and 27th, 1999. 18 teams competed in "RoboCurl 99" to deliver four "curling stones" to the "house," like in actual curling. Like in 1998, teams had to also design their own curling stone game pieces, and competition also included scores for written, video, and verbal documentation.

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  A RoboCurl 99 robot with curling stones loaded inside [4]

Canada FIRST's slogan circa 1999 was "Sports for the Brain."

2000

Canada FIRST's 2000 game, RoboHockey2000, was played from March 2nd to 4th at Mohawk College in Hamilton. 21 teams competed.

2001

The 2001 Canada FIRST National Competition took place March 1st to 3rd, 2001 at Centennial College. 28 teams met to play RoboBiathlon 2001, in which robots would "ski" a measured length while dodging obstacles and then shoot squash balls at targets. Robots are judged on time to complete their "ski" and points earned for hitting the targets. Three of the competing teams were all-girls teams.

2002

The 2002 Canada FIRST Robotics Games National event was held at Humber College Athletic Centre from February 28th to March 2nd in Toronto, Ontario.
2002 Canada FIRST pamphlet

2003

The final Canada FIRST was held at Humber College Athletic Centre from February 27th to March 1st, 2003. 25 teams competed.