May 3, 2012 (St. Louis, MO) – Last week, more than 600 teams from around the world gathered at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis for the 2012 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship.
While the teams focused on building alliances and ensuring their robots were working properly, volunteers from Bastian Robotics made sure everyone inside the pit area wore safety glasses.
"We were privileged to be a part of the 2012 FIRST Championship," said Ken Tinnell, general manager of Bastian Robotics. "It is a great organization, and this was a perfect opportunity for our group to give back to the community."
Two shifts of eight volunteers from Bastian Robotics worked from 6:00 am until 5:00 pm on Friday. During each shift, four volunteers stayed outside the pit entrance to hand out safety glasses and remind people why they were necessary. The other four volunteers were inside the pit to ensure safety glasses were being worn and collecting and cleaning any returned sets.
"It was a great experience," said Ben Viorel, manufacturing manager at Bastian Robotics. "The enthusiasm that the participants and spectators showed for science and technology was inspiring."
In addition to the group's duties in the pits, Colin Shipley--an engineer at Bastian Robotics--spent this season mentoring the Pattonville High School robotics team, better known as the Green Army. The team had an excellent year, making it all the way to the 2012 world championships in St. Louis.
"The success of this team is due to the student’s hard work and perseverance," said Shipley. "I'm there to help answer the technical questions and show them the engineering method, not to build the robot itself."
Congratulations on an excellent season, Green Army!
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For media information, please contact Stefanie Keffaber, Corporate Communications Specialist, at 317-575-9992 or by email at skeffaber@bastiansolutions.com.
About Bastian Robotics
Bastian Robotics, headquartered in Maryland Heights, MO., is a privately-owned company specializing in robotic integration, custom end of arm tooling, and robotic consultation. The company has clients across the U.S. in a variety of industries, including automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and healthcare, and consumer packaging. Bastian Robotics is part of the Bastian Solutions family of companies, which also includes Bastian Software Solutions and
Bastian Automation Engineering. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.bastiansolutions.com/robotics.