Our meeting this week was busy and productive. We debriefed about our bottle drive experience, and plan to hold another one that is bigger and better in the spring–so parents….please save your empties for us!
Look who showed up today! Remi….who is modelling our “Apron of Doom”–if you do not clean up, you must wear it! (here are some classic apron pictures) Remi is working on putting together an order of hoodies. Think about whether you are interested in purchasing a team hoodie this year. Prices and designs will be coming your way soon!
We discussed the plans for the FIRST LEGO league tournament, and Jr. FIRST LEGO League Expo that we’re hosting on December 3rd. We look forward to lots of our K-Bots volunteering to help out with set up on December 2nd in the evening, and with the running of the event on December 3rd. We’ll be hard at work by 8 until probably 5 or 6. There’s lots of volunteer hours available! There are many jobs for students to do, from helping with registration, being good tour guides of our school for all of the visiting teams, cooking a delicious pasta lunch for our judges, and even taking a turn being the blue bear to help lead cheering! For more information please contact Christine.
Our group split up for rotations of CAD tutorial work–some of us are getting really good at the practical applications of CAD.
Others are getting really good at the impractical applications of CAD. Meet Geoffrey the dragon! 
We held a brainstorming rotation for Chairman’s report ideas, and activities we should engage in over the year to help our community and build up our team. We also walked everyone through the STIMS registration and online consent forms for FIRST. Students and parents both must complete the process for the permission forms to be complete.
Our beta testers were busy getting Barbra Streisand (Kasey III) up and running, as an important beta-testing deadline is coming up next week.
The remaining station was a super top secret design challenge. Groups had 30 minutes and a variety of materials (wheels, newspaper, straws, plastecine, skewers, cardboard, wood, screws, saws, measuring devices, and lots of tape) to construct a vehicle that was powered by a balloon that could travel the farthest down the school hallway.
During the 30 minutes, each group needed to plan, prototype, construct, test and modify their design, as well as demonstrate good communication and teamwork skills.
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Since each group worked in isolation, the vehicles produced were unique. Some had wheels, some didn’t. Some used an inflated balloon, others used it as a slingshot.
 that balloon's on steroids! |
 If the car breaks, and part of the car goes the farthest, it still counts....right? |
 The real car is Sam....the balloon is just the distraction! |
 look mom--no wheels! |
We all learned a lot during this challenge. It’s important to use time wisely–to allow time for testing and modifications–to plan before building–and to bring spare parts to the competition. We had lots of fun, even if the vehicles did not travel too far down the hallway! This might be a challenge we’ll revisit in the future.
we'll work on durability of designs...
At another station we worked on our team building and communication. We all stood on a blanket and folded it as much as possible while still standing on it!
We used this time together to practice our communication skills also. We want to get everyone comfortable talking about our team and FIRST in general.
We started with some hands on skills in wiring. We cut wires, stripped wires and learned how to solder.
George, a new K-Bot this year, thought that soldering was the best thing that he’d learned this season.
After the rotations were done, we started looking at CAD. We’ve got a tutorial for everyone to work through–it’s on the robotics drive at school–email your files to Kevin when you are done!
Our game analysis session focused on Breakaway, the FRC game from 2010. it was great to hear what the new members thought of the game and what strategies they came up with.
We welcome everyone to come and visit us at K-Botics headquarters on Thursdays after school!
Here are the results: Group 1 had a really tall tower! They took advantage of having several really tall people in their group who could put the top pieces on.
We had delicious snacks (Thanks Megan!)
Then our robots were on display in the hallway and everyone got a chance to drive and operate Kasey I and Kasey III.
2:03AM Some of us are resorting to 30 second naps to re-energize! We’re wondering how many of us will be feeling enthusiastic at 10AM….
Overheard through the wee hours of the morning…. (note: there are many references to WIRE strippers….just to clarify)
2:35AM “But what about the strippers…I only care about the strippers” -Mike (Queen’s Mentor)
We hope you have had as enjoyable and productive a night as we have.
