The LigerBots have released our annual safety animation video and have entered it into a competition for the 2018 FIRST Safety Animation Award. (See full post to view video.) These animated videos combine an educational message about safety with creative art and imagery. In January, judges at FIRST will pick the year’s best entry from among many submitted by FRC teams from around the world, and the winning video will be shown at every FIRST Robotics competition.

In order to follow the retro-1980s arcade theme of the 2018 FRC challenge we developed a story that combined safety principles with elements of our very own video game. After designing characters and scenery, we brought them to life with 3D animation. Finally, we added arcade style music and sound effects along with a voice-over narration to accompany the visuals.

The biggest challenge was fitting the story into only 40 seconds–the maximum video length according to the rules. Another challenge was the deadline, which forced us to make decisions fast and start the animation process as early as possible.

We are very proud of our unique result. We hope that our video will be chosen by FIRST and that it will have a lasting impact on the community by encouraging safe practices.