Reporting - Blog Posts

Reporting All Robots!

This FIRST Robotics season I joined forces with BlueDevil Press to live report on the Duluth Robotics Regional. BlueDevil Press is a collaboration of three teams to give an unbiased view of the robotics world to the community. As a part project mentor part alumna I helped edit articles, devise interview questions and follow beats. For the Duluth Regional we crafted a wrap around the Duluth News Tribune, submitted four articles to the paper and published eight articles on the BlueDevil Press blog. Some of the stories include...

"Starting ’em Young" - Kindergartners visit the FIRST Robotics Regional

"FIRST President Don Bossi Interview" - FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) President shares he visions for the future of robotics

"Phoenix Robotics" - A norm busting robotics team

"A “FEARless” Season" - Overcoming disaster, robot drove off the stage during community demo

Wrap around the Duluth News Tribune. Part program part “What is robotics?”

Following the competition I visited the Kindergarten class that took a field trip to watch the robots. We reviewed the robotics challenge reveal video one more time, then they were challenged to build a robot of their own out of odd materials. Students were given googly eyes (cameras), clothes pins (robot defense manipulators), pom poms (boulders), foam (robot structure),  construction paper (robot field) and pipe cleaners (aluminum rods). I expected the students to glue their creations down on provided construction paper but instead they made the robots 3-D! Folding and building their robots like a diorama recreating the scenes they saw at the competition. Every time I give a class a design challenge I am amazed by what they imagine!

Robot shooting a boulder into a tower.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Watch FIRST robotics competitions live every Thursday to Saturday until May 1st, 2016.

Support your local FIRST Robotics team. Teams often have their own website and 501c3 so you can donate to them. Find them here.

Visit a classroom and read a book, teach some coding, talk about your career. Teachers will love the extra prep time and students love a fresh perspective.

Pit area where teams work on their robot between matches.