That Time I Coached Robotics

I never thought I would be coaching a robotics competition but February 1st, I found myself spending at entire day at Montana State University for First LEGO League's robotics competition called Nature's Fury.

The competition was split between the robotics contest and a presentation on an area of the world afflicted with a natural disaster(s).  I spent the past few months coaching a Girl Scouts group on their presentation portion.  We went all out with a presentation packet for the judges, website, and social media for their product. The girls picked Alaska and earthquakes so they developed a mega survival kit called Tiny Hero.

This was the first robotics competition that I had ever been to and it was a really neat experience.  Even the trophies were made out of LEGOs!

Here is the robotics competition took place, one of the gymnasiums at MSU.  There were three segmented areas with two tables each.  Each of the robots is programmed by its team.  The robots completed challenges on the tables to earn points.

For example, if the robot hit the lever, the plane would propel down a line and onto a runway.

The girls placed 14th out of 50+ teams which was great for their very first time (and mine as well).  It was awesome to see science, technology, and the excitement from all of these kids displayed at the competition. 


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