Hightower Trail Middle School FIRST Lego League (FLL) Team Wins Award!

Hightower Trail Middle School earned the FIRST Lego League Mechanical Design Award for their robot at their qualifier on Saturday, December 5, 2015!

Principal Mrs. Montgomery also stopped by to support the team and cheer them on. This rookie team did a fantastic job all the way around and are robo-superstars!

We loved mentoring them and are SO proud of all they've accomplished! Way to go team!

Robotics Queens First Lego League (FLL) Team Wins Award!

Breaking News: Rookie team the Robotics Queens won the FIRST Lego League 3rd Place Champion's Award on December 5, 2015 at their qualifier!

It was an exciting but long day and it ended with the award (and ice cream!). We had a great time mentoring these girls, and it was a true group project.

They had help from our team East Cobb Robotics, Walton Robotics Team, GENIUS Robotics, and Duct-Ties And Zip-Tape. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Georgia FIRST Robotics as well as Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta were key supporters, and made the whole thing possible. Thank you!

We can't wait to see what great heights these ladies reach!

FULL! Minecraft Camp/Parent's Night Out

Thanks to everyone who signed up for our Parent's Night Out Event. We're looking forward to a fun evening!

This Parent's Night Out Camp is now FULL, but please sign up on our Notify Me form so we can let you know when our next camp will be held.

Questions? Please email info@EastCobbRobotics.org

Parent's Night Out / Minecraft Camp! (Now accepting 1st grade)

Camp and Parent's Night Out

What:          Minecraft Camp / Parent's Night Out
Who:           Available to kids in grades 1st - 8th
When:         Friday, December 4th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Where:        3162 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 430 Marietta, GA 30062
Hosted By:  East Cobb Robotics Team

Parents, it’s your chance to go out and have some fun or do some Holiday shopping while your kids learn new ways to use Minecraft from East Cobb Robotics Students. The night will be fun filled and your child can get their Minecraft questions answered while playing with other kids.

IMPORTANT Tech Notes: 
For a successful evening, each child needs to:

• Have their own computer-based Minecraft account and know how to log in.
• Bring their own LAPTOP with Minecraft already installed.
• All machines must run Windows, iOS or Linux and have Java installed.    
• No Kindles, iPads, iPhones, or Chromebooks

Cost is $30 per child and includes drinks, snacks, and pizza for dinner. Children must be in grades 1-8.

To register, click on the “Minecraft Camp sign-up” tab!

Questions? Please email info@EastCobbRobotics.org

Can't make it this time, but want to know when our next camp is? Fill out our Notify Me form.


Refunds require a 24 hour cancellation notice. All proceeds go toward East Cobb Robotics' mission of promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics).

Planes, Drones, Robots –Oh My!

October was a busy month for East Cobb Robotics.  We visited the Cobb County Radio Control Modeler’s Club in Acworth.

Photo of the team and CCRC members taken by their drone!

CCRC members showcased entry-level radio control airplanes, drones, helicopters and a plane that runs on jet fuel.  (Due to the size of the runway this plane was unable to fly –it is very loud!)  During the demo flights our driver’s fingers were itching to get their hands on the controls!  We are thankful to say there were no crashes or in flight collisions this was due to teaming up with an experienced pilot and strictly following their instruction

A key to successful radio control operation is the controls function logically while the plane is flying away from you however, while flying toward you everything is reversed.  The left lever is now controlling the right flap, etc.  Team members learned about scale, various materials used in exterior construction, electrical systems, thrust, lift, propulsion and what a fun hobby this can be!

It’s no surprise that the careers of our hosts ranged from technology to aeronautical engineering and of course – a pilot!  We really appreciate the time they took with our team and the guidance they provided.

GRITS recap

On Saturday at GRITS (our pre-season robotics competition) the rookie members learned how a competition operates and got to experience some of the excitement and action involved. Veteran team members got to see another version of the GRITS competition and were also able to relive the excitement and action of competition. We had lots of fun, showed great spirit (more about that later), and represented East Cobb Robotics well in front of other students, the public and Georgia FIRST leadership.




Students also learned great problem solving skills, how to work as a team and how to handle challenges that arose. Through the talents of the All-Rookie Drive Team and build, electrical and programming team members working together, we wound up coming in 8th place out of 25.

Our t-shirt cannon shot off shirts to the crowd and had a lot of interest from the public as well as other teams. We had fun interacting with the Dodgen FTC team, The Afterburners, who were there demonstrating their robot, and shared information about the next level of FIRST (FRC) with them as well as some pizza.

We also got to share information about STEM with the public and had more than a few people interested in our competition robot, King Tote, our t-shirt cannon and the FIRST Progression of Programs.

While we encountered some challenges during the robot portion of the competition, we had NO trouble with spirit. We impressed the judges with our awesome dance moves and infectious team spirit and brought home the GRITS 2015 Spirit Award! This is our second GRITS trophy, and it's a beautiful addition to our collection.

Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered on ALL the participants at GRITS and for helping to encourage a love of STEM in the community.

GRITS (an off-season robotics competition!)

Teams from all over Georgia and beyond are coming together in Marietta, GA. Come watch robots compete in the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition game – Recycle Rush!  The 120lb robots compete in 3 team alliances and score by stacking totes and garbage cans on top of each other to score points.

East Cobb Robotics will be one of 28 teams participating in an off-season competition named GRITS: the Georgia Robotics Invitational Tournament and Showcase on Saturday, October 10.

FTC, FLL and robotics for all grades will be showcased. The event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. 

The link to the official Georgia FIRST page is HERE

Date: Saturday, October 15, 2015
Time: See schedule below
Location: Walton High School, 1590 Bill Murdock Rd, Marietta, GA 30062

8:30 AM Opening Ceremonies
9:00 AM‐ 12:00 PM Qualifying Rounds
12:00 PM ‐ 01:30 PM Break for lunch
1:30 PM – 03:30 PM Qualifying Rounds resume
03:30 PM – 04:00 PM Short break and Alliance Picks
04:00 PM – 05:00 PM Semi‐ Finals and Final Match
05:15 PM Awards