Robotics Queens Win Teamwork Award at FLL State Competition!

So proud of these girls!

They knocked it out of the park with a trifecta of wins: 3rd Place Champion's Award, Mechanical Design Award and now.... the Teamwork Award!

This award is especially appropriate because in addition to these girls from 4 different schools pulling together to form a cohesive unit, a team of teams helped get these girls started. Four different FIRST teams mentored these girls and gave them a great foundation to launch from. They reached the stars!

Cobb EMC/Lego Event - Due West Elementary

Another fantastic night spent with Cobb EMC out at Due West Elementary for their Lego building competition.

Hanging out with great kids who are crazy about Legos and STEM, playing with robots and pausing for a photo op with the cast of Star Wars - what more could you ask for?

There is no such thing as scrap wood

Rotary of East Cobb - Thank You

We were selected to receive a grant from the Rotary of East Cobb. With these funds we plan on hosting workshops to teach parents/teachers how to start FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams.

There is a huge need in our community for robotics teams for younger children and we hope that we can be a resource for making a difference.

Thank you, Rotary of East Cobb!

Snow Day = Family Day

School had early release yesterday due to the threat of snow. No white stuff fell from the sky, but there was still this odd feeling of celebration in the air the next day. Students were exploring and getting "hands-on" with the field elements.

Not sure that all the students got this reference, but the mentors did. ;)

For some reason, the festive air of a "Snow Day" brought everyone out of their homes and over to our build site. We had visitors from at least 4 or 5 of our families stop out of the blue by to check out our progress and the build site.


We had another run with "humans as robots" (he shoots, he scores!) and also at traversing the game defenses by a sibling in a wheelchair.

He ROCKED the Drawbridge and even went over the Rough Terrain.

His challenge to the robot: If I can do it, you can do it."

Challenge accepted, my friend. Challenge accepted.

Field of Dreams

We're almost done building the field elements for STRONGHOLD.

This was a challenging exercise and the field is very complex and has a lot of different components.

In addition to working on prototyping and metal work skills, a LOT of sawdust was generated here!

Prototyping and Mock Game Walk-through

We've had STRONGHOLD for a little while now and are starting prototyping.

We're using human "robots" to walk through the course and help formulate our strategy.

And working with our GE mentor on prototyping.

So far, so good...

Robotics Queens win Mechanical Design Award!

The FLL Team that we've been mentoring along with GENIUS, Duct Ties and Zip Tape and Walton Robotics did GREAT at their Super Regional, hosted by Kell Robotics.

Just before Winter Break, we discovered that their robot had been destroyed by persons unknown. Our team met with them over the holidays and helped provide moral support and building advice, and they also came to our build site to practice running the robot missions with their reworked robot.







We were excited for competition and a little nervous about how the robot would perform. We needn't have worried. The girls had a really productive day, as they are now experts at presenting, Core Values and robot missions.

In the end, we were blown away when they announced that the girls had won the Mechanical Design Award! What a coup and comeback from the disaster of having to rebuild the robot.

There's always a silver lining. You just need to look for it.

FLL Super Regional SUPERSTARS

The FLL teams we've helped start: the Robotics Queens and Hightower Middle School Circuit Breakers, as well as UltraViolet who we gave mentoring assistance to, all made it to the Super Regional.
We're so proud of all these teams - FIRST has some rising stars in its midst!

Science Fair at Murdock Elementary

We've had a great time in the past being part of Murdock Elementary School's annual Science Fair.
This year, we took a couple of hours from building robots and went to the school to inspire the next generation of roboticists.

The kids had a great time exploring the robot (yes, there is a robot in the middle of all those kids) and we're proud of the way that our team makes learning about robots fun and approachable. Getting down on their level (literally) makes a huge difference.












Can't wait to see what this up and coming group of kids can do!

STRONGHOLD is HERE!

Finally, after waiting patiently since last season, we know what our game for this year is. We knew it was called STRONGHOLD after FIRST collaborated with Disney Imagineering to create a "game hint" video.

We've been thinking and strategizing for weeks, waiting to see the big reveal.

We drove down to Georgia Tech bright and early for Kickoff, where the game would be revealed. The reveal started out with a very clever takeoff on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and then they showed the game video. 

 Without further ado, we present....

 STRONGHOLD

BUILD YOUR CHAMPION.

RALLY YOUR KINGDOM.