TransformersRobotics

Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry science fair

Our school had its science fair the the day after the Kiwanis Club presentation.  We were invited to demo the robot and present our research.  This was really fun because there were lots of people interested in the robot and how it works.  Several people have asked about being on our team next year.

"Today, we went to the Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry Science Fair.   We had to talk in front of the whole school!!!  We ran the robot  there, and all the students enjoyed seeing it.  The solar panel program messed up a little bit;  it won't recognize the road in front of the house.  We are going to fix it on Tuesday," says team member I.B. Clank.   

                           

Thank you to the school for inviting us to participate!

Kiwanis Club Presentation

The Transformers were invited to demonstrate our robot and our present our research project at a Marietta Golden K Kiwanis Club meeting on March 27.  We also showed a video of the robot completing Power Puzzle missions.  This was a great opportunity to discuss FLL with many people who had not heard of it before.  Many good questions came from the audience, including

How much money would your invention save Publix?

Do any of you want to be scientists when you grow up?

Have you been experimenting with infrared or fiber optics?

At the end of the program, Mr. Roger Amidon, the club president, presented us with a Kiwanis bell.  Thank you, Mr. Amidon and other Marietta Golden K Kiwanis Club members!

                                          

                     Bell                                          Robot demo                               Light sensor demo

                                                

         Invention explanation                   Research presentation                           Our display

Team member I.B. Clank says "Thursday we visited the Marietta Kiwanis Club, and it went great!!!  We talked to some retired people about our robotics presentation.  They were all nice, and the building was nice too!!!"

Thank you to Transformers Support Team member Robogymnast for holding the microphone for us during our presentation!  And thank you to the Marietta Golden K Kiwanis Club for your invitation to speak with you!

Gracious Professionalism (FLL Values)

What is gracious professionalism?  FIRST LEGO League says in the FLL Values:

• Gracious attitudes and behaviors are "win-win."
• Gracious folks respect others and let that respect show in their actions.
• Gracious professionals make a valued contribution in a manner pleasing to others and to themselves as they possess special knowledge and are trusted by society to use that knowledge responsibly.

We have met many teams that are very good at being gracious professionals and they are fun to be around.  These teams do things like congratulate other teams on doing well, compliment the robot design and research of others, and help people out. 

One team that we have met has been especially helpful to us - the GearGeeks.  The members of this team cheered us on at the state tournament and congratulated us on doing well.  Their mentors have given our coaches helpful advice.  They've even let us use their button maker to get ready for the World Festival and let us use their playing field table at the Peachtree Regional.  This team does such a good job at being gracious professionals that they won an award and were selected to participate in the World Festival.  Congratulations, GearGeeks, and thank you so much for all of your help and support!  We're all going to have a great time at the festival!

Transformers team member Gas Guy says "Thank you St. Catherine's Blazers for always saying 'great job' and 'sweet robot design' and for just having an awesome attitude.  Thank you GearGeeks for giving us advice for World and letting us use your button maker.  We got encouragement and advice from the FLLSupport group.  YOU GUYS ALL ROCK!!"

FLL fun at the Peachtree Regional

 

Karen Albrecht, Director of Engineering at Lockheed Martin, invited us to demonstrate the LEGO robot to people attending the FRC Peachtree Regional.  We demonstrated on March 14 and were able to watch the FRC robots.  It was fun seeing what the high school level teams do.  We were also invited to attend and speak at the VIP luncheon that day.  Team member eLEGOtric Guitar Girl spoke to the attendees about what robotics has meant to her.  We think she did a great job!  At the end of the day, the team was presented to a big crowd at the award ceremony.  That was really exciting!  Thank you, Ms. Albrecht, for this opportunity and for your amazing support! And thanks, GearGeeks, for letting us use your table for the demonstration.  (Look for more about this team in another post...)

We met lots of people at the competition.  There were many folks who didn't know about FLL and some of them had come to the event hoping to learn more about it or find a team.  It was fun to share information with them and we hope they will soon all get involved with a team.

Team member Power Python sums up the day by saying "I had a lot of fun showing the robot to other kids.  And we all really liked the chocolate mousse at lunch!"

2007 - 2008 Georgia State Champions!

The Transformers won the first place Champion's Award and the third place robot performance award in the FLL Georgia State Tournament on February 9th.  This allows them the privilege of representing Georgia at the FLL World Festival in April!

Nearly 1800 9-14 year olds, on approximately 200 teams, competed in regional competitions across Georgia.  The State Tournament involved 49 of these teams, all of whom had won awards at regional competitions.  Three teams scored 400 rounds at the competition:  Gear Geeks, Mind Warriors, and Transformers. 

The Transformers team is really excited to go to the World Festival in April!

The Transformers won the first place Champion's Award and the third place robot performance award in the FLL Georgia State Tournament on February 9th.  This allows them the privilege of representing Georgia at the FLL World Festival in April!

Nearly 1800 9-14 year olds, on approximately 200 teams, competed in regional competitions across Georgia.  The State Tournament involved 49 of these teams, all of whom had won awards at regional competitions.  Three teams scored 400 rounds at the competition:  Gear Geeks, Mind Warriors, and Transformers. 

The Transformers team is really excited to go to the World Festival in April!

Atlanta Journal Constitution article

Today's AJC ran the following press release:

EDUCATION NOTES: Robotics team advances

By Diane R. Stepp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/06/08

Independent Studies at Johnson Ferry's robotics team, Transformers, won the Georgia State Championship at Georgia Tech in February, qualifying the team to advance to the First Lego League World Festival at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center on April 17-19. More than 84 teams from around the world are expected to compete.

Johnson Ferry's Independent Studies team placed third in performance and first place overall in the state competition. []