Call for Robotics Volunteers

On March 10th from noon – 6pm, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Robotics Scrimmage. Twenty FIRST Lego League teams from around NYC will get to compete not only in this year’s Food Factor challenge but also in our very own Skills Challenge and Robot Runway (described below).

If you don’t know what a robotics scrimmage is, click here for more details!

While the scrimmage is only open to teams supported by NYAS Mentors, we need a lot of volunteers to make the day happen and can find a role for kids and adults of all ages!

We need:

Trained referees from the Food Factor robot game
Judges for the Food Factor research project
Score Keepers (no training needed)
Untrained (but enthuiastic) judges for the skills challenge and robot runway
Team organizers to help orient and guide a team
Volunteers to lead hands on science & math activities

Robot Runway

In the robot runway, the robot must move down a 15 foot long and 2 feet wide “runway”, execute a 180-degree turn, and return to the starting line. Teams have five minutes to complete the challenge, during which they are permitted to re-program or re-design their robots to enhance performance. Two team participants are allowed to control and reprogram the robot during the challenge. All team participants are allowed to suggest improvements to the two teammates completing the challenge. Teams can compete to win in four categories: tallest, widest, fastest, and most creative. All teams are encouraged to participate in this challenge.

(NOTE: Runway must be longer than 15 feet in order to allow a space to start at one end, and space to turn at the other.)

Technical scoring details:
- If anyone touches the robot during the run, the judges record the distance the robot traveled to that point. The team may immediately reset the robot and try again.
- The team that completes the challenge the fastest, wins.
- If a team fails to complete the full 30-foot distance, the judges record “5 minutes” as their time alongside the furthest total distance the robot traveled. For instance, if a robot never moves further than 15 feet forward, and 5 feet back, the score should read: “5 minutes / 20 feet.”
- If a robot continues to go forward without ever turning, the judges record “15 feet” as the distance for that run.

- If a robot simply changes the directions of its wheels (from forward to reverse) without executing a turn, the judges only record the total forward distance as the distance for that run.

Skills Challenge

A Skills Challenge has been created so that teams can demonstrate their ability to program a robot to overcome the following challenges. The Skills Challenge uses the reverse side of a standard FIRST LEGO League mat.
Skills Challenge Rules:

Each team has two minutes to complete 4 tasks in order
The robot to complete the tasks in the shortest amount of time wins
Once a robot has started a challenge it cannot be touched till it returns to the starting line or has failed the challenge

The four challenges are these:

From the starting line, move across the space (table) to the opposite wall, touch it, and return to the starting line. The starting line is 27 inches from the short end of the mat. Robots can have pieces overhanging the start line, but all wheels must be behind the line.
Follow a black line in the shape of an L to its end, and then return to the starting line. The black line is one inch thick, goes straight 36 inches, and then left for 12 inches.
At the far right hand corner of the table are two LEGO balls (one red, one blue). Robots will need to pick up and hold one of the two balls for at least five seconds. The blue ball will be placed two inches from both walls in the far right hand corner. The red ball will be side it (four inches from the long wall and two inches from the short side).
Robot does a “dance” or series of 360 degree spins for three seconds.

After completing the second challenge robots do not need to return to the start line unless their operator needs to reset the robot’s program.

Meghan Groome

Meghan Groome is the Executive Director of Education and Public Programs at the New York Academy of Sciences, an organization with the mission to advance scientific research and knowledge, support scientific literacy, and promote the resolution of society’s global challenges through science-based solutions. After graduating from Colorado College in Biology and Theatre, she desperately needed a job and took one as a substitute teacher at a middle school in Ridgewood NJ. She discovered that had a knack for making science interesting and enjoyable, mostly through bringing in gross things, lighting things on fire (but always in a safe manner), and having a large library of the worlds best science writing and science fiction. After teaching in both Ridgewood and Paterson, NJ she completed her PhD at Teachers College Columbia University with a focus on student question asking in the classroom. While at TC, she was a founding member of an international education consulting firm, and worked on projects from Kenya to Jordan with a focus on designing new schools and school systems in the developing world. After graduating, Dr. Groome became a Senior Policy Analyst at the National Governors Association on Governor Janet Napolitano’s Innovation America Initiative. Prior to her work at the Academy, Dr. Groome worked at the American Museum of Natural History and authored the policy roadmap for the Empire State STEM Education Network and taught urban biodiversity in the Education Department. At the Academy, she is responsible for the Afterschool STEM Mentoring program, which places graduate students and postdocs in the City’s afterschool programs and the Science Teacher program where she designs field trips and content talks to the City’s STEM teachers.

4 Responses

Neil
January 4, 2012 at 2:00 pm | Permalink Reply

I would spend all my time volunteering in robotics if i have to. I love building and programing robots.
Iwona Nowak
January 14, 2012 at 9:08 pm | Permalink Reply

I will be very happy to help with the event,

Thanks,

Iwona Nowak,
Ronelle Kallman
January 21, 2012 at 9:24 pm | Permalink Reply

I have been a member and have been to one workshop on google docs. I live in Manhattan and would be happy to volunteer in any capacity. My fifteen year old daughter would be an eager and willing volunteer as well. (She is a sophomore at the Bronx High School of Science.)
Let me know how we can help you!
Meghan Groome
January 30, 2012 at 4:23 pm | Permalink Reply

Thanks everyone – you can apply here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?userstoinvite=omedvedik%40gmail.com&formkey=dE92R0thcDl2VkdXSlRxU3NNUlp6b0E6MQ#gid=0