COME ON DOWN
I've been involved in FIRST LEGO Robotics in NYC and nationally - even internationally (as a referee in Tokyo two years ago), since I retired. The tournaments have grown each year as more schools get involved. It is one of the best things I've done. My role is to liaison with the teacher/coaches.
FIRST puts on tournaments all over the world. FLL is for ages 9-14. There are over 16,000 teams in every neck of the world. All competing in the same type of events. The season culminates with the World Festival in April. I went to one in Atlanta and it was quite an experience.
This year's theme is SMART Moves, relating to building and programming robots using LEGO that can navigate through various transportation issues. See more here.
Today is the first of 5 borough tournaments to chose teams that will qualify for the NYC championship at the Javits convention center in March. The Brooklyn tournament is taking place at Polytechnic/NYU in downtown Brooklyn on Jay St. It is free and open to the public and you get to see what all the excitement is about.
I'll be there most of the day so stop by and say hello.
Tomorrow is Staten Island at Wagner College. Next Saturday (Jan. 16) is the Bronx event at Lehman HS and the week after (Jan. 23) is Queens at Aviation HS followed the next day by Manhattan at CCNY.
Follow events at my robotics blog: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
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Showing posts with label robotics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robotics. Show all posts
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Big Day in Robotics
There can be some wonderful days for teachers, students and parents. Today was one of them. The Brooklyn qualifying FIRST LEGO League tournament had 36 teams from all pa
rts of Brooklyn taking part at NYU/Polytechnic University.
What kind of collaboration does putting on an event like this take, our 4th one in the last month with another to come at CCNY tomorrow (Sunday)? An all volunteer event, I might add (though many of the teacher/coaches do get per session)?
Here is an example of industry, university, high school, middle school, elementary school, college administrators, and even retirees working to create something that actually works.
We had the engineering students from Polytechnic and their robotics club (the Polybots) joined by loads of kids from the robotics teams from Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech (yes, we fed them - and fed them - and fed them). The event was run by Richard Wong, an engineer for the NY Stock Exchange (who gives so much of himself time and again) and former Polytechnic student and Wong employee, Mark Sharfshtyn, now at Credti Suisse. Mark runs our entire planning operation - while working full time and going for his MBA.
I'm not even going to go any further because there are so many people to mention. But special kudos to the amazing kids and their parents who kept piling in to see the action and the teachers who put so much into this. In the midst of robotic talk there were a few mentions of ed/politics and I was surprised when some of the newer teachers seemed to be aware of this blog.
After getting through the hectic early morning registration, my day involved circulating and dealing with any issues that came up. They rarely do. Today's biggie was the disappearance of an action figure from a 4 year old little brother of one of the kids. An older girl who may have been his sister drew a magnificent picture which I walked around with asking if anyone had seen the real thing. People were so impressed with the drawing they wanted to meet the artist. I get to schmooze a lot. I saw a familiar face walking around. I told him he looked familiar. "Lester Young," he said, former District 13 Superintendent and power broker at the DOE before he retired. Okaaay! I didn't think there was much to schmooze about.
Well, it's on to the citywide event on March 7 at the Javits center for 13 of these teams, who will be joined by 59 other teams from the other boroughs. That will be part of a 3 day event where our FLL kids (aged 9-14) will mingle with the big robots and the high school kids.
Alright. Enough of this feel-good syrupy stuff. North by Northwest is on and I have to see Cary make whoopee with Eva Marie.
rts of Brooklyn taking part at NYU/Polytechnic University.What kind of collaboration does putting on an event like this take, our 4th one in the last month with another to come at CCNY tomorrow (Sunday)? An all volunteer event, I might add (though many of the teacher/coaches do get per session)?
Here is an example of industry, university, high school, middle school, elementary school, college administrators, and even retirees working to create something that actually works.
We had the engineering students from Polytechnic and their robotics club (the Polybots) joined by loads of kids from the robotics teams from Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech (yes, we fed them - and fed them - and fed them). The event was run by Richard Wong, an engineer for the NY Stock Exchange (who gives so much of himself time and again) and former Polytechnic student and Wong employee, Mark Sharfshtyn, now at Credti Suisse. Mark runs our entire planning operation - while working full time and going for his MBA.
I'm not even going to go any further because there are so many people to mention. But special kudos to the amazing kids and their parents who kept piling in to see the action and the teachers who put so much into this. In the midst of robotic talk there were a few mentions of ed/politics and I was surprised when some of the newer teachers seemed to be aware of this blog.
After getting through the hectic early morning registration, my day involved circulating and dealing with any issues that came up. They rarely do. Today's biggie was the disappearance of an action figure from a 4 year old little brother of one of the kids. An older girl who may have been his sister drew a magnificent picture which I walked around with asking if anyone had seen the real thing. People were so impressed with the drawing they wanted to meet the artist. I get to schmooze a lot. I saw a familiar face walking around. I told him he looked familiar. "Lester Young," he said, former District 13 Superintendent and power broker at the DOE before he retired. Okaaay! I didn't think there was much to schmooze about.
Well, it's on to the citywide event on March 7 at the Javits center for 13 of these teams, who will be joined by 59 other teams from the other boroughs. That will be part of a 3 day event where our FLL kids (aged 9-14) will mingle with the big robots and the high school kids.
Alright. Enough of this feel-good syrupy stuff. North by Northwest is on and I have to see Cary make whoopee with Eva Marie.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Big Dog
The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog's legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next.
Pretty soon they'll be making robotic mayors and chancellors. Or do we already have that?
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog's legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next.
Pretty soon they'll be making robotic mayors and chancellors. Or do we already have that?
Sunday, July 6, 2008
We Get Lettters
Mr Scoot,
How are your ? Can you remember me? I'm the girl who has cried because her team failed in the match in FLL. I'm busy with my study, so I touch with your so late. I feel sorry about it.
I wanted to watch your blog, but I can't find it in the Internet. I just want to see the photo about you and me. Because you said you would put it in your blog.
My summer holiday is coming,what about your? Will you come to China to watch the Olympic Games? I hope to see you in China.
Keep touch with me if you have time. I'm eager to receive your letter.
yours
Serena
Okay, so at the Asian FLL Open in Tokyo in April, when I and my co-ref (a strong-willed college kid from Tokyo - thank god - because I would have caved in a minute) took 40 points off because their oil barrel was touching the water, the kids on the Chinese (mainland) team argued vehemently, claiming the rules translated into Chinese did not include this provision. Their chief lawyer, a 16 year old boy who I would want representing me anytime, finally said, "Well, give us half. We'll settle for 20." Sorry, no can do. At which point Serena started to cry, saying it was all her fault. I gave them all my card and told them to come to NY to help us with our tournaments. The next day they came around to take pictures.
Note the pandas on their heads.
Oh, and if there are any grammar police out there, excuse me for not marking up Serena's wonderful attempt at English.
And feel free to call me Scoot.
Okay, so at the Asian FLL Open in Tokyo in April, when I and my co-ref (a strong-willed college kid from Tokyo - thank god - because I would have caved in a minute) took 40 points off because their oil barrel was touching the water, the kids on the Chinese (mainland) team argued vehemently, claiming the rules translated into Chinese did not include this provision. Their chief lawyer, a 16 year old boy who I would want representing me anytime, finally said, "Well, give us half. We'll settle for 20." Sorry, no can do. At which point Serena started to cry, saying it was all her fault. I gave them all my card and told them to come to NY to help us with our tournaments. The next day they came around to take pictures.
Note the pandas on their heads.
Oh, and if there are any grammar police out there, excuse me for not marking up Serena's wonderful attempt at English.
And feel free to call me Scoot.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Robotics in the Bronx in NY Times Today
A great story on robotics by Sam Freedman in today's NY Times metro section.
And almost every one of the coaches of the 142 teams in NYC that have participated this year have stories to tell about the kids that were changed by this experience.
Photo by Gary Israel at Saturday's robotics tournament at Riverbank State Park.
The Bronx robotics story is worth expanding upon beyond the Ridder kids.
I was working with people doing a video for FIRST in Atlanta last April at the Word Festival (among teams from almost every state, int'l teams included Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel and teams from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong - FIRST might solve world problems) and we interviewed the Principal, Claralee Irobunda who said she would have robotics throughout the school and curriculum if it was possible. Think the DOE "test 'em every minute of the day" program interferes?
Laura Rodriguez has been a major supporter of this program from the time she was a District and then a regional Supt and now as the head of a Learning Support Network. She hired Gary Israel.
Gary has put together a massive operation in the Bronx along with 5th year teacher Evan Weinberg (a Tufts engineering grad who became a teaching fellow and teaches at Lehman HS), a bunch of engineering students from Columbia organized by the amazing Wayne Penn who is now in a Phd program in Boston in medical engineering and also working for FIRST founder Dean Kamen on the artificial arm project. Wayne comes down to NYC constantly to help out and was at our tournament at Riverbank State Park this past Saturday.
They provide the kind of support for the schools with training for teachers and kids that exists in very few places (other than in Region 4 when it existed) and it has survived all the reorganizations.
A whole bunch of us are going to Tokyo at the end of April with the Ridder Kids and possibly another NYC team for the Asian Open FIRST LEGO League tournament.
To their credit, the NYCDOE press office played a very supportive role in working with the Times on this story. Thanks to David Cantor and Maibe González Fuentes for their work on this - now you skeptics who say it was an obviously feel-good story, stop rolling your eyes. I've been doing this stuff for 6 years and this is first time they've showed an interest.
You can track NYC robotics doings at my other blog:
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
And almost every one of the coaches of the 142 teams in NYC that have participated this year have stories to tell about the kids that were changed by this experience.
Photo by Gary Israel at Saturday's robotics tournament at Riverbank State Park.
The Bronx robotics story is worth expanding upon beyond the Ridder kids.
I was working with people doing a video for FIRST in Atlanta last April at the Word Festival (among teams from almost every state, int'l teams included Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel and teams from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong - FIRST might solve world problems) and we interviewed the Principal, Claralee Irobunda who said she would have robotics throughout the school and curriculum if it was possible. Think the DOE "test 'em every minute of the day" program interferes?
Laura Rodriguez has been a major supporter of this program from the time she was a District and then a regional Supt and now as the head of a Learning Support Network. She hired Gary Israel.
Gary has put together a massive operation in the Bronx along with 5th year teacher Evan Weinberg (a Tufts engineering grad who became a teaching fellow and teaches at Lehman HS), a bunch of engineering students from Columbia organized by the amazing Wayne Penn who is now in a Phd program in Boston in medical engineering and also working for FIRST founder Dean Kamen on the artificial arm project. Wayne comes down to NYC constantly to help out and was at our tournament at Riverbank State Park this past Saturday.
They provide the kind of support for the schools with training for teachers and kids that exists in very few places (other than in Region 4 when it existed) and it has survived all the reorganizations.
A whole bunch of us are going to Tokyo at the end of April with the Ridder Kids and possibly another NYC team for the Asian Open FIRST LEGO League tournament.
To their credit, the NYCDOE press office played a very supportive role in working with the Times on this story. Thanks to David Cantor and Maibe González Fuentes for their work on this - now you skeptics who say it was an obviously feel-good story, stop rolling your eyes. I've been doing this stuff for 6 years and this is first time they've showed an interest.
You can track NYC robotics doings at my other blog:
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 30, 2007
Waxing Poetic About FIRST
Yesterday we had our weekly FLL planning committee meeting/conference call at one of the Credit Suisse conference rooms. With the NYC robotics tournament season beginning - check norms robotics blog for full details - things are getting busy.
Who was involved? Students from Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech, NYC public and private school teachers from elementary to high school, parents, teachers and administrators at the University level, students from Columbia U and Polytechnic U, corporate level engineers from Credit Suisse and SIAC, and a few retired NYC teachers.
I was amazed at the total level of egalitarianism. The kids, as young as 15, were equal partners and their level of commitment and responsibility is the most impressive thing about it all. We have all worked together since June to make these events meaningful for thousands of students, their teachers and parents throughout the NYC area. Most teams are from schools, but we also have community organizations, a NYC Parks Dept team and a home-schooled team.
The first official event will be this Sunday, Dec. 2, at PACE U downtown Manhattan campus where kids from 6-14 will be taking part. This event comes out of the unique partnerships forged through FIRST. The senior FIRST Robotics Team from Stuyvesant have with the support of the parents and alumni have teamed with people at PACE U to coordinate the activities.
Next week, Sat Dec. 8, there will be events at Lehman HS in the Bronx and at Brooklyn Tech.
The week after, Sat. Dec 15, we will hold the Queens tournament at Aviation HS and the Staten Island tournament at Staten Island Tech.
Over 80 teams from the 160 entered will go on to the citywide at Riverbank State Park on Jan. 26.
Check it out.
Who was involved? Students from Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech, NYC public and private school teachers from elementary to high school, parents, teachers and administrators at the University level, students from Columbia U and Polytechnic U, corporate level engineers from Credit Suisse and SIAC, and a few retired NYC teachers.
I was amazed at the total level of egalitarianism. The kids, as young as 15, were equal partners and their level of commitment and responsibility is the most impressive thing about it all. We have all worked together since June to make these events meaningful for thousands of students, their teachers and parents throughout the NYC area. Most teams are from schools, but we also have community organizations, a NYC Parks Dept team and a home-schooled team.
The first official event will be this Sunday, Dec. 2, at PACE U downtown Manhattan campus where kids from 6-14 will be taking part. This event comes out of the unique partnerships forged through FIRST. The senior FIRST Robotics Team from Stuyvesant have with the support of the parents and alumni have teamed with people at PACE U to coordinate the activities.
Next week, Sat Dec. 8, there will be events at Lehman HS in the Bronx and at Brooklyn Tech.
The week after, Sat. Dec 15, we will hold the Queens tournament at Aviation HS and the Staten Island tournament at Staten Island Tech.
Over 80 teams from the 160 entered will go on to the citywide at Riverbank State Park on Jan. 26.
Check it out.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Robots Are Us
While it may appear that writing and organizing in the UFT is my major activity, since I retired 5 years ago I've been even more involved in the NYC robotics community through volunteer activities with NYCFIRST, the local incarnation of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) which puts on various tournaments for kids from age 6-high school all over the world.
My focus has been the FIRST LEGO League, where teams of kids from age 9-14 build and program robots out of LEGO materials. That makes for an interesting competition with 4th/5th graders competing on the same playing level as 9th graders. (And they
do pretty well.) There are over 8000 teams world wide.
A team from a public elementary school at the tournament at Brooklyn Tech last year. The teacher has left after 2 years to start a program at a private school, citing the high class sizes as a reason. (See, I can combine robotics and ed politics.)
We are just completing the registration procedure for this year and at this point have 180 NYC teams from all 5 boroughs, mostly from public schools. We have grown so much that we are running events in each borough in December. All of these events are mostly run by high school kids from the senior robotics teams at Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, Aviation, Lehman and Staten Island Tech, along with their great teacher/coaches.
The top 80 teams will go on to the citywide at Riverside State Park at the end of January. The winning team there may have an opportunity to go to Atlanta for the World Festival, which includes teams from all over the world. I went last year and had a blast. One of the interesting highlights was seeing teams from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon and Israel interact. And teams from different Chinas - Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai.
A bunch of us from NYC may be going to Japan at the end of April to assist with the Asian Open tournament. Konichiwa.
This Saturday we are holding a kickoff event at Polytechnic U. in downtown Brooklyn from 9-1. Stop by if you are in the area. Or come on down to one of the events in December and think about getting your school involved for the future. You can check it all out at my robotics blog .
My focus has been the FIRST LEGO League, where teams of kids from age 9-14 build and program robots out of LEGO materials. That makes for an interesting competition with 4th/5th graders competing on the same playing level as 9th graders. (And they
do pretty well.) There are over 8000 teams world wide.A team from a public elementary school at the tournament at Brooklyn Tech last year. The teacher has left after 2 years to start a program at a private school, citing the high class sizes as a reason. (See, I can combine robotics and ed politics.)
We are just completing the registration procedure for this year and at this point have 180 NYC teams from all 5 boroughs, mostly from public schools. We have grown so much that we are running events in each borough in December. All of these events are mostly run by high school kids from the senior robotics teams at Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, Aviation, Lehman and Staten Island Tech, along with their great teacher/coaches.
The top 80 teams will go on to the citywide at Riverside State Park at the end of January. The winning team there may have an opportunity to go to Atlanta for the World Festival, which includes teams from all over the world. I went last year and had a blast. One of the interesting highlights was seeing teams from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon and Israel interact. And teams from different Chinas - Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai.
A bunch of us from NYC may be going to Japan at the end of April to assist with the Asian Open tournament. Konichiwa.
This Saturday we are holding a kickoff event at Polytechnic U. in downtown Brooklyn from 9-1. Stop by if you are in the area. Or come on down to one of the events in December and think about getting your school involved for the future. You can check it all out at my robotics blog .
Friday, July 13, 2007
Macklein
This past Weds. I was off to see the new Australian modernized version of Macbeth over at the Quad cinema but made a stop at Sony Wonder on 56th and Madison to check in on the robotics gang who were there for the day in the atrium doing exhibitions of FIRST Robotics and FIRST LEGO League. Kids, parents and teachers from Stuyvesant, Lehman HS, HS of Computers and Technology and MS 217Q.
So as I enter the atrium, a few of the teachers come running over, "You misse
d him. You missed him."
"Missed who," I said?
"Klein. (NYC Schools Chancellor) Joel Klein was here."
"You mean Joel Klein made a special trip down here to see the kids and the robotics," I said disbelievingly?
"No, He just happened to be passing through, checking his Blackberry. We tried to engage him and get him to stop by to talk to the kids but he said he had to catch a plane."
Aha. Serendipitous corroboration that Joel Klein has absolutely no interest in seeing what kids are doing unless it can be used for public relations. And since he didn't have his massive PR core with him, why give even 30 seconds of his precious Blackberry time to stop and say hello to the kids?
These teachers were being polite (and they still work in the system.) Lucky I missed him. I wouldn't have been.
(You can read the feel-good part of the story at my Norm's robotics blog.)
As for Macbeth, a fine movie. We've had our own version here in NYC playing for the past 5 years. In the leads? Who have had the most blood on their hands? YES! BloomKlein in the lead. And do I have to tell you the top choice for Lady Macbeth?
So as I enter the atrium, a few of the teachers come running over, "You misse
d him. You missed him.""Missed who," I said?
"Klein. (NYC Schools Chancellor) Joel Klein was here."
"You mean Joel Klein made a special trip down here to see the kids and the robotics," I said disbelievingly?
"No, He just happened to be passing through, checking his Blackberry. We tried to engage him and get him to stop by to talk to the kids but he said he had to catch a plane."
Aha. Serendipitous corroboration that Joel Klein has absolutely no interest in seeing what kids are doing unless it can be used for public relations. And since he didn't have his massive PR core with him, why give even 30 seconds of his precious Blackberry time to stop and say hello to the kids?
These teachers were being polite (and they still work in the system.) Lucky I missed him. I wouldn't have been.
(You can read the feel-good part of the story at my Norm's robotics blog.)
As for Macbeth, a fine movie. We've had our own version here in NYC playing for the past 5 years. In the leads? Who have had the most blood on their hands? YES! BloomKlein in the lead. And do I have to tell you the top choice for Lady Macbeth?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Who are these people...
... and why is that guy lurking in the rear right?
I've been out of touch for a few days. Been up in Manchester, NH for a meeting at FIRST HQ where people from all over the nation and from Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Denmark and other places I can't remember, who are involved with robotics, gathered. The guys from Japan are running an Asian Open FLL tournament in Tokyo in April '08. I already signed up as a volunteer. Konichiwa to you.
We had some NYC teachers who were released by their schools with us. (Some very interesting conversations between teachers in their 20's and the 60-somethings, where we managed to solve most of the world's problems.) The whole gang gathered in front of the hotel to watch the shuttle and space station pass by one night. And we got to tool around in the parking lot on a Segway.
A rare treat was a visit to FIRST founder Dean Kamen's (that's him in front) house for dinner - for 70. We ate in the helicopter hanger. The rest of the house? Oy vey!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Woodie, the Rock Star
by Norman Scott
April 20, 2007(From The Wave, www.rockawave.com)
He is tall and lean, his thinning gray hair swept back in a long ponytail. His usual garb: jeans, sneakers and a dungaree jacket covered with names signed in multi-colored markers. He towers above the hordes of teenagers who often surround him waiting patiently for his autograph and the opportunity to find an open spot on his jacket to place their names (he has markers available for them to use.)
Another rock star from the ‘60’s on yet another comeback tour? No, he is Woodie Flowers, professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he is an international superstar in the worldwide robotics community.
Read an account of my wonderful visit to the World Robotic Festival, sponsored by FIRST, in Atlanta where thousands of kids from elementary, middle and high schools gathered from around the nation and the world. When the MC shouts Isaaaac, the kids shout back "Newton!"
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Message from Atlanta
April 11
Well, I've been up since 4am. The flight to Atlanta for the FIRST World Festival of robotics took off around 7 and I've been on the run since we landed. They have a giant airport with a train taking you from terminal to terminal. Best of all is the subway from the airport right into downtown. No flimsy billion dollar boondoggle like Airtran that we have to take you from Kennedy to - where? Remember how they found money for that? And did we ever hear a word from our union leaders about how they manage to come up with money for these things but not for class size -- you know, the old "if we ask for it in the contract it will have to come out of salaries- sniff, sniff." Enough of that. On to better things.
Kids, teachers and parents and anyone else who can come along started arriving this evening at the Georgia Dome and it's a magnificent site. I am working in the FLL area - the 9-14 year olds. There are 90+ teams from all over the world - 3 from China, including mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The best was a group of kids from Jordan. The had contacted me about coming to our NY event but the teacher couldn't get a visa in time. But they are here now. There's also a team from Israel in the high school division. There are teams from almost every state and our 2 NYC FLL teams from Staten Island and the Bronx checked in tonight. There are lots more NYC teams in the high school event (FRC) where the big robots do their thing.
I was put on a video project not as a camera person but as a liaison to the coaches and teams - sort of a scout to get some interesting stories. The film guy is from Boston and is fabulous-- we both have the same camera and I will pick is brains until he screams. He made a lot of his own equipment and I learned a hell of a lot in our meeting today.
This is one amazing group of people - hundreds of volunteers from all over. And the kids are the best. One of my favorite teams from Aviation HS is here and I'm wearing their shirt and hat and Donnie Swanson from IS 75 in SI is giving me one of their great tee-shirts. There are 2 teams from Bronx High and one from Brooklyn Tech and SI Tech- coach Mike Seigel drove a van down here with all the equipment while the kids flew. And of course, the shockign winners of the tournament at Javits a few weeks ago - Westinghouse wich upset Stuy and SI Tech.
NASA is simulcasting on the web so take a look. NASA has updated their web page to make finding the FIRST 2007 Championship competition fields easier to find for viewing.
Please go to http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/ and scroll down to the Einstein/Lego League field to view the FLL World Festival rounds (you may also want to catch some of the FRC and FVC rounds too!) Please note that FLL practice rounds are on Thursday and the competition rounds are on Friday (there are no rounds on Saturday.)
A public agenda of all the 2007 FIRST Championship program activities can be found at http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/Assets/Agenda_Final.pdf
I got pics and will post them and more on the robotics web site when I get a chance -- if they ever let me sleep. Got to be there at 7am tomorrow. Retirement really works. Later.
Well, I've been up since 4am. The flight to Atlanta for the FIRST World Festival of robotics took off around 7 and I've been on the run since we landed. They have a giant airport with a train taking you from terminal to terminal. Best of all is the subway from the airport right into downtown. No flimsy billion dollar boondoggle like Airtran that we have to take you from Kennedy to - where? Remember how they found money for that? And did we ever hear a word from our union leaders about how they manage to come up with money for these things but not for class size -- you know, the old "if we ask for it in the contract it will have to come out of salaries- sniff, sniff." Enough of that. On to better things.
Kids, teachers and parents and anyone else who can come along started arriving this evening at the Georgia Dome and it's a magnificent site. I am working in the FLL area - the 9-14 year olds. There are 90+ teams from all over the world - 3 from China, including mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The best was a group of kids from Jordan. The had contacted me about coming to our NY event but the teacher couldn't get a visa in time. But they are here now. There's also a team from Israel in the high school division. There are teams from almost every state and our 2 NYC FLL teams from Staten Island and the Bronx checked in tonight. There are lots more NYC teams in the high school event (FRC) where the big robots do their thing.
I was put on a video project not as a camera person but as a liaison to the coaches and teams - sort of a scout to get some interesting stories. The film guy is from Boston and is fabulous-- we both have the same camera and I will pick is brains until he screams. He made a lot of his own equipment and I learned a hell of a lot in our meeting today.
This is one amazing group of people - hundreds of volunteers from all over. And the kids are the best. One of my favorite teams from Aviation HS is here and I'm wearing their shirt and hat and Donnie Swanson from IS 75 in SI is giving me one of their great tee-shirts. There are 2 teams from Bronx High and one from Brooklyn Tech and SI Tech- coach Mike Seigel drove a van down here with all the equipment while the kids flew. And of course, the shockign winners of the tournament at Javits a few weeks ago - Westinghouse wich upset Stuy and SI Tech.
NASA is simulcasting on the web so take a look. NASA has updated their web page to make finding the FIRST 2007 Championship competition fields easier to find for viewing.
Please go to http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/ and scroll down to the Einstein/Lego League field to view the FLL World Festival rounds (you may also want to catch some of the FRC and FVC rounds too!) Please note that FLL practice rounds are on Thursday and the competition rounds are on Friday (there are no rounds on Saturday.)
A public agenda of all the 2007 FIRST Championship program activities can be found at http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/Assets/Agenda_Final.pdf
I got pics and will post them and more on the robotics web site when I get a chance -- if they ever let me sleep. Got to be there at 7am tomorrow. Retirement really works. Later.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Robotics at Javits Center Mar. 16-18
FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) Regionals at Javits, Mar. 16-18
The New York City Regional is a FIRST Robotics Regional Competition that will be held between Friday, March 16 and Sunday, March 18, 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The 2007 competition will include sixty-three FIRST Robotics teams from New York City, the metropolitan region, and as far away as Brazil, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
The event is a world-class celebration of high school students, engineers, and mentors creating and discovering tomorrow’s science and technology! Twenty major New York City corporations will be on-hand to offer information about summer jobs, internships, co-op positions, and other employment opportunities at our first ever career fair. With an additional 200 middle school teams in five boroughs, the 2007 FLL and FIRST Vex demonstrations will only increase the excitement! http://www.nycnjfirst.org/nyc_frc.htmlI will be there all 3 days at the registration desk, so stop by and say hello.
Friday is a practice day so the kids will have some time to take visiting school groups around.
I am coordinating school visits on Friday, so if you are interested in bringing a group contact me directly.
Read more at my robotics blog: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
FIRST LEGO League Robotics at PS 261 Brooklyn
Last Wed. after school I stopped by for what I thought was a few minutes (that turned into an hour and a half) to visit the 4th/5th grade robotics teams (called "Nanorama I and II") at PS 261K in downtown Brooklyn in Region 8. They are preparing for the FIRST LEGO League tournament to be held at Riverbank State Park in upper Manhattan on Jan. 27/28 where 155 teams from NYC area schools (both public and private) and community centers will compete by building robots out of LEGO blocks that must complete a number of tasks (in 2 1/2 minutes in each round) related to Nanotechnology, this year's theme (Nanoquest).
The teams are coached by teachers Maureen Reilly, Allisyn Levy, and Jennifer Lindauer-Thompson. I was still there an hour an a half later observing the incredibly well organized operation as the 22 children accomplished an amazing amount of work with the guidance of their teachers.
After an opening warm-up session they broke into distinct groups – research, programming, building – and ended with a whole group sharing session.
Maureen, a 2nd year teacher, began the program last year and recruited Alyson and Jennifer this year after getting support from Brain Pop. Maureen is not your average robotics coach as she worked for LEGO for 7 years and is still a consultant, even getting to go to Denmark every summer to visit the Mecca of LEGO.
Jennifer meets with the group preparing a research report on Nanotechnology, which will be presented to a panel of judges at Riverbank
Allisyn works with the programmers
A pep rally send-off was held for the robotics teams at the school the Friday before the Brooklyn tournament. A Daily News reporter was in the building for another reason and, looking in, asked what the rally was for. She was incredulous when told it was for the robotics team. Another pep rally will be held on Jan. 26th the day before the massive citywide event.
Teaching Nanotechnology as it relates to one of the FLL challenges
How she stores all the stuff - this is just a small section as Maureen's classroom is the Brooklyn version of LEGOLAND.
Maureen and I discussed the idea of getting Region 8 coaches and may be some other Brooklyn teams together post tournament to plan a follow-up robotics event in the spring.
Nanomaniacs gather around the competition table at the Brooklyn borough FLL tournament at Brooklyn Tech HS on Dec. 9
Maureen prays for a good score
FIRST, the organization behind all the excitement, bills these tournaments as sporting events for the mind. We expect well over 1000 people at the Riverbank gymnasium each day as teams come with cheerleaders, colorful banners and tee-shirts. The excitement is pumped up by a d-jay, a jumbo TV screen and all sorts of other activities. The first time I saw one of these events 5 years ago when they had only 35 teams, I was hooked and have been a volunteer registration and team recruitment coordinator for NYCFIRST.
No matter how much I tell people how great an event this is, they are still overwhelmed when they actually see this in person. FLL is for ages 9-14 and we have elementary, middle and a number of high schools with 9th graders all taking part in the same event. AND THEY ALL HAVE SO MUCH FUN. And their teachers too, who often tell me this is one of the most enjoyable things they have ever done as a teacher, despite all the incredible work involved.
The NYC event is special because it is so massive and is one place where children from the poorest schools mingle with and compete with children from the most exclusive private schools. A teacher from PS 193 in Brooklyn, a rookie school that has jumped in with both feet, sent an email after the Brooklyn tournament (with 27 teams) with a quote from a child who said that was the best day of her life. She ain't seen nothin' yet.
Volunteers are needed as:
Team Quers
Crowd Control
Research/Tech Schedulers
Referees
Field Re-setters
Contact Elizabeth Almonte at: nycfllvolunteer@yahoo.com
The teams are coached by teachers Maureen Reilly, Allisyn Levy, and Jennifer Lindauer-Thompson. I was still there an hour an a half later observing the incredibly well organized operation as the 22 children accomplished an amazing amount of work with the guidance of their teachers.
After an opening warm-up session they broke into distinct groups – research, programming, building – and ended with a whole group sharing session.
Maureen, a 2nd year teacher, began the program last year and recruited Alyson and Jennifer this year after getting support from Brain Pop. Maureen is not your average robotics coach as she worked for LEGO for 7 years and is still a consultant, even getting to go to Denmark every summer to visit the Mecca of LEGO.
Jennifer meets with the group preparing a research report on Nanotechnology, which will be presented to a panel of judges at Riverbank
Allisyn works with the programmers
A pep rally send-off was held for the robotics teams at the school the Friday before the Brooklyn tournament. A Daily News reporter was in the building for another reason and, looking in, asked what the rally was for. She was incredulous when told it was for the robotics team. Another pep rally will be held on Jan. 26th the day before the massive citywide event.
Teaching Nanotechnology as it relates to one of the FLL challenges
How she stores all the stuff - this is just a small section as Maureen's classroom is the Brooklyn version of LEGOLAND.
Maureen and I discussed the idea of getting Region 8 coaches and may be some other Brooklyn teams together post tournament to plan a follow-up robotics event in the spring.
Nanomaniacs gather around the competition table at the Brooklyn borough FLL tournament at Brooklyn Tech HS on Dec. 9
Maureen prays for a good score
FIRST, the organization behind all the excitement, bills these tournaments as sporting events for the mind. We expect well over 1000 people at the Riverbank gymnasium each day as teams come with cheerleaders, colorful banners and tee-shirts. The excitement is pumped up by a d-jay, a jumbo TV screen and all sorts of other activities. The first time I saw one of these events 5 years ago when they had only 35 teams, I was hooked and have been a volunteer registration and team recruitment coordinator for NYCFIRST.
No matter how much I tell people how great an event this is, they are still overwhelmed when they actually see this in person. FLL is for ages 9-14 and we have elementary, middle and a number of high schools with 9th graders all taking part in the same event. AND THEY ALL HAVE SO MUCH FUN. And their teachers too, who often tell me this is one of the most enjoyable things they have ever done as a teacher, despite all the incredible work involved.
The NYC event is special because it is so massive and is one place where children from the poorest schools mingle with and compete with children from the most exclusive private schools. A teacher from PS 193 in Brooklyn, a rookie school that has jumped in with both feet, sent an email after the Brooklyn tournament (with 27 teams) with a quote from a child who said that was the best day of her life. She ain't seen nothin' yet.
Volunteers are needed as:
Team Quers
Crowd Control
Research/Tech Schedulers
Referees
Field Re-setters
Contact Elizabeth Almonte at: nycfllvolunteer@yahoo.com
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