Spreading the Word of STEM and FIRST

By: Westly Durkee

JULY 27, 2015

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9

RICHMOND HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAM 4130

R o b o t i c s Bi-W e e k l y

Team 4130 is dedicated to

spreading the message of

FIRST Robotics. We do a vari-

ety of demonstrations all year

long. Our goal is to engage and

educate anybody that is inter-

ested in finding out what FIRST

is all about. I really enjoy the

actual robot demonstration and

answering questions related to

our competitions. In July, our

team did two demonstrations or

“demos” (as we call them). One

of our demos was for a summer

camp for young children called

Camp Richmond. The second

demo was for the Chesterfield

Township Senior Center. Both

groups were very interested and

the experience was good for

ALL involved.

At Camp Richmond, the chil-

dren looked at the robot in awe

as we rolled it in. The children

appeared amazed when we en-

tered the room and setup our

equipment. Immediately, they

asked how it worked and when

we would turn it on. We as-

sured them we would power it

up and with a little encourage-

ment they settled down and

listened intently. First, we

turned on the TV that was con-

nected to the laptop and began

with a Power Point presenta-

tion. When it came on, the chil-

dren momentarily broke their

fixation on the robot and asked

various questions. The children

sat still and appeared to watch

the presentation intently - al-

most to the end. After a few

more questions from the kids,

after the power point was fin-

ished, we turned on the robot.

As the robot started moving and

it started picking up totes and

cans – the kids became very

excited and you could see the

excitement in their eyes. They

asked “how does it work” and,

"what's that?" After the robot

was shut down, we talked about

how they could get involved in

First and that the First Lego

League would be a good start.

Inside this

issue:

Spreading the Word of STEM and FIRST (continued on page 2)

1 &

2

Off-Season Events

2

Thank You to…Our Sponsors

3

Before we left, we handed out

our team 4130 buttons and

some Lego candy to each of

camp kids. In the end, we could

see that we sparked a lot of

interest and, in the future, many

will probably become FIRST

members.

At the Chesterfield Township

Senior Center, they also ap-

peared to really be interested in

our presentation and the robot.

Some attendees said they came

that day because of what they

had heard about our demonstra-

tion the previous year. So, it

appears our demos are spread-

ing the word of STEM and

FIRST.

Continued On Page 2.

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PAGE 2 RICHMOND HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAM 4130

Off-Season Events

RoboFrenzy

By: Dorian Hanson This year’s Inaugural RoboFrenzy

Robotics Competition was a fun and exciting experience. BWARA, Blue

Water Area Robotics Alliance-of

which Team 4130 is a proud member,

hosted RoboFrenzy in Port Huron at

SC4 on May 16, 2015. This year RoboFrenzy consisted of 12 teams;

all from Michigan; with 8 teams be-ing BWARA members. Even though

it was very hot and humid inside the

gym, where the competition took place, it was so worth it. By partici-

pating in tournaments, in our off sea-

son time, it allows additional Team Members the opportunity to drive the

robot in a competition, permits us to meet other Teams and their Members,

and gives our new Team Members a

stress free, thrilling experience of

what’s to come. Attending teams re-ceived $1000 from the event spon-

sors, Eastern Michigan Manufactur-ing Association and the St. Clair

County EDA-lead sponsors, which is

a great opportunity to obtain funds for

this year’s budget. Our Team re-

ceived an additional $500 for placing

second in the competition. This little competition gave our team lots of

bonding time to strengthen our friend-ships even more and allowed us to

cheer on our amazing drive team. Our

team will gladly attend RoboFrenzy for years to come.

M.A.R.C.

By: Andrew Caporuscio On June 18th and 19th Team 4130 at-

tended Michigan Advanced Robotics

Competition, or as many people refer to

it as M.A.R.C. Off-Season competi-

tions like these are fun for drivers as it

is more laid back and does not have as

much pressure as a season competition.

Thirty-eight teams competed for the

win. After qualifications, we were

ranked 6th out of 38 teams, this is a

great achievement as we are playing

with some of the best teams in Michi-

gan. During alliance selections, for our

first pick, we chose the Michigan State

Champion, Team 548 the Robostangs

from Northville, followed by Team 74

Chaos from Holland, and Team 66 the

Flyers from Ypsilanti. Going into the

semi-finals our alliance had the highest

average (165) in the competition. Un-

fortunately, we had a few bad matches

where our robot was shut off by the

Referees, one of our alliances robot

rebooted and another alliance had tech-

nical difficulty with their auton mode.

These factors eliminated us in the semi-

final round. It was so much fun! What

a great competition to attend!

Throughout our explanation of the

FIRST Robotics program, they asked

many questions about FIRST and how

the team operates and how the different

teams work together. When we started

the robot they wanted to see what it

could do. Many of them asked us to do

specific tasks with the robot that we

had never tried before. So, we learned

some things, too. We could do all of

them; including setting a tote on top of

a can. After the robot was powered off,

we explained more on how it worked

and answered a good variety of ques-

tions. In addition, we explained how

they could help our team. We men-

tioned our air freshener fund raiser and

we were able to sell some to help our

funding goals. I hope it was as much

fun for them as it was for us.

Spreading the Word

Continued from page 1

PAGE 3 RICHMOND HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAM 4130

Our 2015 Sponsors. THANK YOU!

We couldn’t do this

without you!

The Blue Devils First Robotics Team 4130 would like to THANK YOU very

much for your donation for the

2014/2015 season. This year’s success

would not have been possible without

you. Building a robot is not just nuts

and bolts its financial support and many

hours of dedication and hard work.

With your support we were able to

build a robot that brought us face to

face with some of the best Teams in the

World at the Championship in St.

Louis, Missouri.

As a four year old team this was a big

deal; as of course it would be for any

team. This was our second time quali-

fying, but the first time our robot had

qualified, on its own, for the World

Championship. We made it to the quar-

ter finals of our division, which is a

very big deal for a young team such as

ours.

Thank you very much for your support,

we have a great community behind us

Grandma

Helen

Thank You Sponsors

By: Emma Kettel

and that is why we are an “Up and

coming power house team to watch",

stated by Dave Verbrugge, who is an

MC at the FIRST competitions. We

hope that you will continue supporting

us in the future and if possible attend

one of this year’s District Events and

watch us in action!