Flying Saucers and Climbing Robots: The Invasion Begins March 8

Submitted by Jeremy on March 6, 2013 - 19:06

FIRST Logo

For the past six weeks, teams of high school students around the world have been designing, collaborating, marketing, animating, programming and building robots to compete in the 2013 FIRST Robotics Challenge regional tournaments. This year, teams are preparing robots for a game called “Ultimate Ascent”, a mix of Frisbee and climbing played between two Alliances of three teams each. Each Alliance competes with robots aiming as many flying discs as possible into goals during a two-minute and 15-second match. Matches end with robots attempting to successfully climb pyramids located near the middle of the playing field. The Oregon regional tournament takes place March 8-9 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

Elemental is proud to support this event for the second consecutive year. We’ll be on hand with our live encoder to capture all the action from the pit in the Coliseum and stream it live over the Internet. Thanks to Elemental gear and volunteer staff on-site to run the video streaming portion of the event, you can watch these young engineers operating robots in a tournament setting on your computer, iPad, iPhone or Android device. Check out the live event stream here. 

The Ultimate Ascent competition progresses in stages. On February 19, robots were “bagged and tagged”, signifying the end of the build season. Work continues, however, right up to the regional competition with each team testing and refining their mechanisms and code. Teams also use this time leading up to the regional events to hone their skills at robot operation, alliance strategy and designing additional flair!

Sound like fun? It is. But it’s also hard work giving the students preparing these robots plenty of practical 
experience in engineering, marketing, project management and other skills they’ll be able to use in the world after high school, into college and beyond.
Ultimate Ascent Robots
“The experience provided by participation in the FIRST robotics programs is something many professional engineers wish we could have had when we were in high school,” said Don Nelke, principal software engineer at Elemental. “From a personal perspective, two of my children have participated in FIRST Lego League and FRC Robotics programs. The eldest of the two, my daughter, was inspired by this program and is currently enrolled in the engineering program at OSU. My son continues with this year’s FRC season.”
FIRST or ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’ was founded in 1989 as a non-profit organization to “inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology”. The FIRST goal is to provide programs that motivate students to explore science, technology, engineering and math through education while laying the foundation for future careers in the technology arena. The program seeks to inspire self-confidence, innovation, and build leadership skills in the student participants and its success can be attributed to the enthusiastic participation of corporate sponsors, mentors, and volunteers from the community.

We can all be proud of the students who choose to participate in the program and the volunteers who mentor these bright young minds. If you're in the Portland area, come by the Coliseum this Friday or Saturday to show your support and see this exciting event up close. Or tune into the live stream from your computer or mobile device to see the young engineers and robots compete. Elemental wishes the best of luck to all competitors in the tournament!

Portland Mayoral Candidates Boot Up Software Discussion

Submitted by MattF on August 9, 2012 - 11:04

Portland Mayoral Candidates Hales and Smith Join Elemental to Discuss Software, Startups and EntrepreneurialismElemental logo

Elemental Technologies will host a debate between Portland mayoral candidates Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith on August 13th at its new offices on SW Broadway in downtown Portland. The candidates will come together to discuss how their leadership can nurture the city’s budding software industry and support the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Roy Kaufmann, a well-known media professional, will moderate the event.

With an unwavering commitment to the health and growth of the software cluster in Portland, Elemental encourages active civic dialogue between business and government leaders and supports public engagement. To this end and to make the discussion between the cities’ mayoral candidates available to the widest possible audience, the company will tap into its core competency and stream the event live, making it available to view in real-time via the Internet and on mobile devices. To view the event live on August 13 at 11am, simply click here and tune in on your PC, tablet or smart phone.

In addition, the public can submit questions to the forum via Twitter using the hashtag #pdxmayor during the debate. Queries will be submitted to the moderator as the debate occurs -- so don’t hesitate to tune in online and pose your pertinent questions to these two compelling candidates! Every voice counts as we move towards the elections in November, and we hope you’ll join us at Elemental HQ or participate in the forum online.

Please join Elemental, the citizens of Portland, and mayoral candidates next Monday to not only learn what the city can do for us, but what we can do for the city:

Who: Candidates for Mayor Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith; Moderator Roy Kaufmann
What: City of Portland Mayoral Candidate Forum on Software and Entrepreneurialism
When: Monday, August 13th, from 11am to 12:30pm
Where: Elemental Technologies, 225 SW Broadway, Suite 600; Portland, Oregon, 97205
RSVP: http://www.elementaltechnologies.com/lp/RSVP

Can’t attend in person? Join us virtually on your smart phone, computer, or other connected device:
--View the debate at this URL:  http://www.elementaltechnologies.com/mayoralforum

Elemental Puts Androids on Your iPhone at FIRST Robotics

Submitted by Don Nelke on March 8, 2012 - 13:12

first robotics logoEvents at the Portland Memorial Coliseum this weekend (March 9-10) will capture the interest of techno-geeks and sports enthusiasts alike. AutoDesk and Oregon FIRST Robotics are hosting a regional tournament in which robots, designed and built by teams of local high school students, will compete in a basketball game dubbed the “Rebound Rumble”. Like many sporting events, it will be played in an arena, involve teams of talented people, result in scoring, and operate under the constraints of a time clock. Elemental is proud to support this event. We’ll be on hand with our Elemental Live encoder to capture all the action from the pit in the Coliseum and stream it live over the Internet. Elemental Live will perform adaptive bit streaming for both Flash and Apple HLS, so you can watch these kids operating robots in a tournament setting on your computer, iPad or iPhone. Check out the live event stream here.

Elemental Comes to Atlanta to Play

Submitted by Lisa on June 7, 2011 - 11:54

This week, Elemental is attending and exhibiting at the College Sports Video Summit (CSVS) in Atlanta, Georgia. Sponsored by the Sports Video Group, CSVS is all about building the business of college sports video and it's where schools and universities learn how to increase the value of their college sports content. As SVG notes, more college sports content is being produced and distributed than ever before – and most schools have only just scratched the surface.

Georgia Tech and South Carolina pileup

It was not so long ago that a college sports fan settled for watching a national game-of-the-week on television or tuned in to listen to a favorite team play on local radio. But with the proliferation of “pads, pods and tabs”, typical supporters don’t need to settle for these limited options any longer. College fans increasingly expect and demand expanded coverage of their school’s sporting events online and on mobile devices. Delivering video, both live and on-demand, is now a priority in the world of college sports and prominent networks and programmers turn to Elemental to make this happen in a high-quality and cost-effective manner.

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