Build Period: Pre-Build - Week 1 - Week 2
September - December 2006 |
Even though build season isn’t here yet, our team has taken the precious off-months to hone our skills and train new team members for our upcoming challenge! Every Monday when we meet the mentors give a tutorial session on various areas of the robot (whether it be motors, fabrication, or electronics). It usually consists of a slideshow accompanied by demonstrations and a lot of hands-on work, followed by a quiz to test our new knowledge. These sessions are a way that our many new team members can learn about parts of the robot and the build process and our veteran members can refresh their memories and maybe learn a little something new as well. As build season approaches we become more and more prepared, and hopefully these training sessions will give us an upper hand in successfully and quickly putting our plans into action!
In addition to training, our team has been sharing our robotics knowledge and enthusiasm with the local community. On October 31st and September 1st, our team hosted a booth at the Seattle Robotics Society’s Robothon 2006 to publicize the FIRST program and spread our interest in science and technology. “Robothon,” a local event that appeals to robot enthusiasts nationwide, provided our team members with an opportunity to both spread our passion and be inspired by fellow hobbyists. Hosted at the Center House of the Seattle Center, this event was a collaboration of societies, clubs, and competitions focused on robotics. Our team hosted a booth to represent FIRST for the public to view as they roamed throughout the Center House and viewed the competitions. At our booth, we proudly displayed our robot from the previous season as well was several display boards and sampler “ArtBots” for kids to buy. By providing the larger robot as well as the “ArtBots,” we reached out to all ages and levels. During this event, while our team members were not attending the booth, we observed the Robothon competitions and visited other booths. This was an amazing event that offered an abundance of knowledge and great experience. Through this event, we were able to reach out to the public and attracted a large audience.
This year our robotics club had an opportunity to help out the local robotics community that has been so supportive of the FIRST program and out team - to host a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition. FLL is a middle school competition run by the same organization that sponsors our tournament - FIRST. As with the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), the goal of FLL is to interest students in science and technology at a young age. Teams get two and a half months to complete a research project and design a small robot made entirely from LEGOs that is able to complete as many of the FLL mission challenges as possible. This year there are about 40 participating FLL teams in Washington, so for the first time it was necessary to create smaller regional events within the state. Our team volunteered to host one of them, and ended up having an even better time than we expected! After setting up the night before, the multipurpose room was prepared for the role it would serve.
Saturday morning at 9:30, teams from all over the area began pouring in. From then to lunch these teams took turns meeting with a panel of judges where they presented their robot design and a research project about nanotechnology, the theme of this year’s contest. There was then a break for lunch, a bit more practice time, and the robotics competition was on! The FLL tournament, like FRC, rewards cooperation. For example, one of the challenges this year, a “Space Elevator,” required both competing teams to work on it before either could get points. This teaches middle schoolers the value of teamwork and community. There are also eight other challenges that each team works on individually, and the total points from all challenges completed in the 2.5 minute match becomes the team’s score. After all the rounds of competition were over, the judges went into deliberation. After a spirited discussion, they decided which team to give each of the five awards: the Regional Director’s Award, Robot Design Award, Robot Performance Award, Research Presentation, Award and Teamwork Award. At the awards ceremony, each competitor was given a participation medal, and the five teams receiving the further awards were given plaques and an invitation to the state event. Everyone on our team had a great time running the competition, and four members liked it so much they went on to volunteer at the state event!