A (Tiring) Day of Robotics at Javits

Masters of ceremonies Mareen and John flank one of my favorite coaches, Eric Greene, who ended up winning the Championship after 14 years as a coach. He will be taking his team to St. Louis for the internationals. Retired NYC teacher and master coach Veryl Greene (no relation) mentored the team.

Congrats to Eric Greene and mentor Veryl Greene (no relation) for winning the New York City FLL championship yesterday. Eric, after 14 years of coaching, is taking his school from St. Albans, Queens to the international event in St. Louis.

Boy am I wiped. I dragged myself into the house at 7 last night without chills, without a voice and very hungry. This was my 15th year at a FIRST LEGO League robotic championship, the last 14 as volunteer. I became a volunteer for FLL soon after I retired in 2002, so I am pretty attuned to the support and lack of from the DOE over this time. I'll get to this in a followup post but first I posted this on facebook with my photos:

Oh what a day yesterday at the FIRST Lego league (age 9-14) 80 team event, Junior FLL (age 6-9) and 3 day first robotics high schools from as far away as London, Brazil and Far Rockaway at Javits convention center Saturday March 12.

To make it clear, there are 3 concurrent events.

FIRST LEGO League was an all-day event on Saturday with 80 teams, including public, charter, private, neighborhood home-schooled teams and for profit orgs where parents pay to enroll their kids on a team. I have seen the public school share of teams drop drastically over the years I have been involved, which spans the years from Harold Levy through Bloomberg and Di Blasio. I will address this issue in another post, especially since Carmen Farina spoke and lamented the fact that the event was not dominated by public schools -- she should look in the mirror if she's looking for a reason.

The high school kids (FRC), who come from many public NYC schools  began to arrive Thursday evening  to set up their pit areas. Friday was for practice and tuning their robots. Saturday and Sunday was the competition. I went back to the FRC pits on Friday and was surprised to see a team from Far Rockaway HS Campus, the Queens HS for Information, Research and Technology. The students beamed when my pal Tony Homsey told them we were from Rockaway. I asked if they knew Jeff Kaufman who is not teaching socials studies and coding at the school and they were so excited at the mention of his name. Saturday Jeff,  who is running on the MORE slate for Exec Bd at Large, did come and we had a great chat with a lot of insight about a small school with a good principal who Jeff admires. In all my years of knowing Jeff I have never heard him say nice things about his principal. This guy must be gold. Jeff introduced me to the coach who also happens to read my School Scope column in The Wave. What a task he has taken on to do this work. The team, which won the FIRST rookie award, is called Birch Bots. Here are some photos I took of the team:

A team member collecting memos.

So many people I knew stopped by the pit admin station where I was on duty all day, including Sterling Roberson from the UFT. Farina spoke at the opening but I was too busy to go over and hear her.  My question to Farina and the UFT:  Do they offer real support or a photo op?

More photos:

 Here are some Junior FLL photos at their exhibition for ages 6-9.

The participation medals - long time Staten Island coach Ray Cottrell, center

Old pal Laura Allen of RoboFun stopped by.

Popular every year: Talking robot

The pits

It really was the longest day. After a Friday night of revelry at the

The kids at the RTC

Rockaway Theatre Company gala event at El Caribe, it was out of the house at 6:30 to pick up fellow volunteer Tony Homsey. We didn't get back to Rockaway until 7 PM. I had and have no voice, which my wife is celebrating.

See what your school is missing - Join me for a day of robotics TODAY, March 14, 2015 - At the Javits Convention Center

Really, if your school doesn't have an NYCFIRST robotics program going on you need to see this.

At 6PM Friday night - HS kids still at it

Today is the big day and I head out at 6AM. I got home at 9PM last night from helping get ready for the 80 teams coming from all over the city and from public, private, charter, parochial and home schooled teams for the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) NYC championship tournament for kids aged 9-14. 

In FIRST LEGO League (FLL®) the children will design, build and program an autonomous robot (using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robot set) to score points on a thematic playing surface, as well as conduct a project research and create innovative solutions to a problem, all while being guided by the FLL Core Values. The FLL Challenge this year is called World Class - Learning Unleashed.

The Pits: Where the 80 teams hang out

In the morning the kids - we have 80 teams with about 10 kids on a team -- present their research projects to a team of judges, show how they designed their robot to another team of judges and demonstrate their level of teamwork - and core values to a third set. While waiting they spend the morning doing practice runs - and modifying their software and robot designs for the afternoon game competition where they get to run their robots in 3 rounds - roughly once an hour.

Like my flannel shirt? That's where to find me

I'll be managing the team pit area - when I'm not sneaking out for a snack in the volunteer canteen- so come on down and hang out.

But there is so much more in this 3 day event -- we are only here for today.

During the morning, the little kids 6-9 - will demonstrate the Junior FIRST LEGO League projects.

For children ages 6-9, Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) captures young children's curiosity and directs it toward discovering the wonders of science and technology.

Children get to design and build a challenge-related model using LEGO® components, create a Show Me Poster and practice presentation skills, explore challenges facing today's scientists, discover real-world math and science, and engage in team activities guided by Jr.FLL Core Values. The theme this year is called Think Tank - Redefining Learning.


 FRC

Check out the high school field

And going on all day and Sunday too is the big kids - the varsity.
I was there last night and the kids were still working out at 7PM. Backstage in the pit area is a wonder - you need to wear safety glasses which they loan you -- I got to see an old pal, Steve Raile from Staten Island Tech who retired this past June but can't stay away.

The varsity Sport for the MindTM, FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology for high school students between the age of 14-18.

Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors.  It’s as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team. The FRC Robot is limited to

 28" x 42" x 78" in size and a maximum weight of 120 lbs
The FRC Challenge this year is called Recycle Rush.


There is room in the stands for you to watch these 6 robots - 3 vs 3 go at it - and these kids drive the robots - not autonomous mode except for the beginning.

And there is even more. The lower level - and cheaper - middle and high school tournament - FTC - has already taken place but there is a demo field set up just outside our pit area -- their tasks are described:
FTC is designed for students in grades 7-12 to compete head to head, using a sports model.

The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles.
The FTC Robot is limited to 18" x 18" x 18" in size, and the competition field is 12' x 12'.
This year's FTC Challenge is called Cascade Effect


Well, that's it for a busy day. If you stop by and see me sleeping on the table, give me a nudge.

NYCFIRST LEGO League Kickoff - Photos

I had a great time yesterday at NYU/Poly on Jay Street at our annual FLL kickoff. We have about 170 NYC teams registered so far for the Challenge which is called World Class, all about learning. Kids not only build a robot for the game field - below - represent different styles of learning - but also do and present an extensive research project on the subject.

Teams spend  the next 3 months prepping. Borough qualifiers take place in January. Finalists go to citywide event at Javits on the weekend of March 14. The winner of that may be eligible to go to international event in St. Louis in late April.

I've been working with NYCFIRST since practically the day I retired - actually from that first day in Sept. 2002.

The amazing Rich Wong - engineer and teacher extraordinaire

Are You Up for Robotics This Weekend?

Body Forward Competition mat (8x4)

COME ON DOWN AND SEE WHY YOU WANT YOUR SCHOOL INVOLVED NEXT YEAR.

From almost the minute I retired in 2002, I have been involved with FIRST LEGO League (FLL) in New York City, one of three tournaments going on at the Jacobs Javits center this weekend. The ages of kids involved are 9-14, which covers elementary, middle school and 9th graders in high school. All competing at the same level.

There is even a Junior FIRST LEGO League exhibition for kids aged 6-9.

I have run a blog devoted to NYC FLL robotics for years: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

FIRST (http://usfirst.org/) is an orgnization that promotes Science and Technology among school age children. This weekend is the NYC Championship Tournament at Jacob Javits Center.

There will be several competitions going on simultaneously.

Friday will be FRC's (FIRST Robotics Competition) practice competition day.

Saturday will be FRC qualification matches and FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) championship matches.

Sunday will be be FRC's championship matches as well as FLL (FIRST Lego League) and Jr. FLL champioship matches.

I work with FLL on Sunday. This year we had 200 teams from NYC - public, private, charter, home-schooled, community centers start out. We held qualifying borough tournaments in January to choose the final 80 teams going to the NYC championship on Sunday. The winner goes on to the World Festival in St. Louis in April. If you show up on Sunday, look for me near the FLL pit area. You might see schools like Dalton seated next to schools from Bed-Stuy. This is one of the great social mixing events you can find.

What is FLL? Each year there is a theme. This year is Body Forward: engineering meets medicine. Check it out here. I have a kit in my house - there is an 8x4 mat with a giant human body on it and the robots have to navigate and accomplish tasks like putting a stint in. Great stuff.

The "game" is played on a table with about 15 teams trying to gain as many points as possible in 2 and a half minutes. But that is only a part of the event. Each team does research on the topic and present to a panel of judges. And they also present a technical presentation telling the judges how they solved the problems.

Teams are 10 kids but many schools bring cheerleaders and boosters and lots of parents. who often gaze in wonder at the energy of the day. Lots of awards and trophies given out. And a medal to each participant. Want to see kids, teachers and parents having a blast? BE THERE!

Check out this article on the Brooklyn qualifier.

The 3 day FRC high school event attracts 66 teams, some from around the world (Brazil, Hawaii). These are big robots, 6 on the giant field at the same time - 3 against 3. See these high schoolers from elite schools mix and work with kids from all over the place. (Check out the list and the heavyweight sponsors).


I won't go on. I'm too excited. I'm heading down to Javits to hang out today (my wife's mah jhong crew has arrived is the real reason) before the heavy lifting on Sunday. Here is some info if you want to check it out. All free and open to the public.

Oh, has there been any support from the NYC DOE for this amazing event that involves so many NYC schools and students doing the very opposite of test prep? Go ask them.

Here is some info from my robotics blog.

See lists of all the teams and the sponsors:

NYC First Mega Robotics Celebration Program

NYC LEGO Teams for Javits 2011 With Pit Table Assignments (where you can find them)

Javits 2011 FLL Championaship, Sunday March 13 - Floor Plan and Schedule

Solar Powered Bike Will Be At Javits Robo Event March 13

See bike on NY1 news. Size of a large adult bike....

http://statenisland.ny1.com/content/top_stories/132679/lego-champs-to-head-to-first-robotics-competition?ap=1&MP4

 
An event this big need a lot of people to pull it off. We have hundreds of volunteers already but we are still in need of more. We would greatly appreciate your help. Registration closes tomorrow, however we do take walk-ins on each day of the event. We also welcome spectators. If you you dont desire to volunteer then please do come to any of the events and observe the cheer intelligence and creativity of children younger than 8 years to 18 years doing things most engineers didn't learn until college.

Please join us.

To those who volunteer you will be given a free t-shirt for the event, as well as breakfast and lunch. Further information can be found via http://nycnjfirst.org/ or directly via http://nycnjfirst.org/blog/2010/12/29/11th-annual-nyc-first-robotics-regional-competition-frc-week-2-event/

Hope to see you all there!

Email Norm if you want to help: normsco@gmail.com