Week 1: Hatboro-Horsham 2015

We are not competing at Hatboro-Horsham, though we are scouting, volunteering, and cheering on the other teams. There are some really impressive teams competing! We know we'll have some serious competition at Sprinside-Chestnut Hill, our first district event. Good luck to all the veteran and rookie teams competing this weekend!

Here's info on the Hatboro-Horsham District Event
http://www.usfirst.org/whats-going-on/event/13429?ProgramCode=FRC

Kickoff 2015

All teams around the world, both rookie and veteran, were anticipating the new season as they watched the   countdown until the livestream began. After numerous delays and movie previews (Slingshot and Spare Parts), we were all finally able to view the new challenge! It is called "Recycle Rush." Robots must stack totes and recycling bins and place pool noodles in the recycling bins. Watch the video:

http://youtu.be/hTyCIYZQ_1s

Pre-Kickoff

The Tin Mints are currently sitting in the auditorium of Upper Darby High School waiting for Kickoff. In about half an hour, Kickoff will start. Head here for the livestream:

Kickoff Livestream

Lego Fury 2014

On Saturday, November 22, we hosted our second annual Lego Fury at E.T. Richardson Middle School. Ten teams came to our competition, which included Ridley's FLL team, mentored by Erin. The Jr. FLL, FLL, and FRC girls volunteered at the event and helped it run smoothly. The 501st Legion came and people took their pictures with them! We had a 50/50 raffle, a best lego cake competition, which we auctioned off, and good food and music. After the matches, we had a dance party on the stage and everyone had a good time! Many awards were given out, and three teams are advancing to the Penn Championship in February. We had a great day, and special thanks to all the volunteers!

STEM Night at Swarthmore-Rutledge School

On Thursday night, a few girls on the FLL and FRC teams visited Swartmore-Rutledge School for their STEM Night. The FLL girls explained this year's challenge and showed students and parents alike several missions on the NXT robot. The FRC girls demo-ed Rosie (from Ultimate Ascent) and talked to adults and kids about our program. Our old classmate was giving us some trouble at first, but after a while it turned on and we were able to shoot frisbees. Rosie is getting pretty skilled at making baskets past the half-court line. A lot of kids were very excited about joining a robotics team!

                                       

Comcast Seminars

On Saturday, November 15, we made our way down to the Comcast Building in Philly to listen to seminars about programming our robot and marketing our team. In the morning half the girls went to the Intro to LabVIEW seminar and the remaining girls went to the Business and Marketing seminar. After lunch, we listened to Women in Technology, which was very inspiring and insightful, and the Chairman's Award seminar, which was very helpful! After the last seminar, our team walked down the street to Love Park and got our picture taken in front of the Love Statue. We had an awesome day and thank you, Team 272, for putting this day together!

Woodie Flowers at Hatboro Horsham

On Wednesday night, we were given the opportunity to see Woodie Flowers speak at Hatboro Horsham High School! Woodie Flowers talked about education, specifically how it is important to integrate both STEM and the humanities into a curriculum. Additionally, he spoke about how humans do things that machines can't do and how this will change in the future. It was a very interesting talk, and afterward we were able to meet him, talk with him about our team, and take a picture! Woodie Flowers is actually such a cool guy and an inspiration.