Marlene, Morgan, Ben and I went to hang out at Penfield Robotic’s “Rah Cha Cha Ruckus” event today. We talked to a number of other teams, and gawked at the robots from last-year’s FIRST Robotics competition.
Tag: FRC
October 24, 2011
A recap of tonight….what was said and what I wanted to say!
FLL — First Lego League (4th to 8th grade)
FRC— First Robotics Challenge (9th to 12th grade – there are some exceptions based onconversations with parents and students regarding the rules)
OUR WEBSITE AND BLOG ARE LOCATED AT https://lego.wiksclan.com/ (for information about FRC see https://frc4093.com/ ) PLEASE go there and sign up to receive updates!!!!! It is the best way to get information out BETWEEN meetings.
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship is everyone’s responsibility.
We need about $5000 to support our upcoming FLL team(s). We also need nearly that to support the FRC team’s endeavors that are coming up fast. Every donor counts! Ask everyone, for any amount! Contributions are tax deductible since they will go to the Cooperative Extension to be used by us. They are an exempt 501 (c) (3) corp.
Our first sponsor is an in-kind donation of rental space for the FRC build.
The second Sponsor is purchasing an NXT kit for the FLL.
It is amazing what you can accomplish by just asking. I am happy to help you with the brochures or if you are asked questions that you would like help with give them my contact info, or have me call them. robotics@wiksclan.com . (I am Marlene Seielstad)
FLL For Now
For Now, the FLL group will meet once a month and learn some build and programming skills. The challenge for them will not roll out until Sept. 2012.
In the plans:
- Building a “field” Does anyone have a 4×8 sheet of plywood to donate? ½ or ¾ (better) inch thick? Pieces of 2×4 4ft or 8ft long?
- A field trip to a local FLL competition, if it can be arranged.
- Kids to participate in Public Presentation Days in February (presentations are part of the FLL competition)
- We believe we will have the 2011 challenge board in early December (Hand me down from another team)
- They will meet once a month for now.
- I promise to give them more attention once the FRC team and mentors are in place (since there roll out is Jan 7th – yikes!)
FRC—
First—- Can anyone go on Saturday (this week 29th)? I know it is short notice. As of now we have one car leaving to go for the day and one car that will go for the afternoon. We have room. Mentors and team members that can make time WILL learn a lot, guaranteed. More info is at http://www.ruckus.penfieldrobotics.com/ruckus-information/
We have a ton of stuff to do!
We need:
- A Name (ie; Orleans Storm, First Team 4093)
- A shirt Color (green, red, purple, pink…get it)
- A logo for us.
JANUARY 7TH NEEDS TO BE ON YOUR CALENDAR
We need to plan a build schedule:
FRC–FEED BACK PLEASE
I would like to schedule with the least amount of conflicts for everyone and the sooner we nail down the build schedule the better. Other teams have a schedule that is 2.5 hours on weekdays and 6 hours on Saturday. Does that work for us? Do we want 2 hours and 7 hours. I need your input and then will create something that works so everyone can come most of the time. Information regarding how early you can arrive and how late you can stay would be helpful. If you have a commitment on a specific day of the week, what time?
I know that everyone will not make every meeting, but if you can make most of them, or come late or leave early… Scheduling will be the hardest part, but we still want everyone to participate to whatever level they are able. During the build we will
do time cards so that when positions are selected for competition we will have
a deciding factor if we need it. Hours spent doing work at home and documented will count also.
Team Members should:
Become familiar with www.usfirst.org go to the FRC tab and look around. Look at past challenge info. READ, READ, READ…
We have some awesome mentors that have signed up to help, with a fabulous set of skills!! Thank you in advance for your willingness and availability!!!!
MEETING SCHEDULE:
EVERYONE: Shifts during the afternoon of December 3rd to be determined at Meeting 11/15
FLL:
Tuesday, November 15th Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
Monday December 12th, December Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
FRC:
Thursday, November 3rd Education Center Classroom, 6:30-800pm
Tuesday, November 15th Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
Monday, November 28th Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, December 7th Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
Monday December 12th, Education Center Classroom, 7:00-8:30pm
We will be picking a couple of meeting times over the Holiday break to set up the build site, when we can be there for a few productive hours.
FRC—JANUARY 7TH ALL DAY!!!
PLEASE email me with any questions or comments. The meeting schedule uses different days; we are trying to see what works best for everyone.