March 4, 2024 By Notre Dame Academy
The Robotics Team from NDA has been quite busy! As they are preparing for their state robotics competition in Andover on March 9, they have also been busy with community outreach. Joining with Weymouth Scout Troop #1022, team members discussed, designed, and demonstrated all of the necessary requirements for the scouts to achieve their Technology Badge.
The evening kicked off with team members sharing lots of insights on coding, competitions, safety, robot design, and being involved in the community. Each member who spoke shared their own experience depending on their role on the team. Topics included building the robot, writing the program that runs the robot either autonomously or driver-driven, safety issues that they have to keep always on their mind, and ways that robotics and technology can affect our world. Coaches Anne Marie Clogston spoke on her background in technology and what she enjoys about being a coach. Additionally, the scouts and their leaders heard from Coach Lucy Driscoll, a graduate of NDA, who began her career in technology at iRobot and is now working with another new startup using robots to impact a common practice in commercial settings that might become more common in your home!
Team members shared safety equipment, experiences they have had in competition, their engineering notebook, how they keep news of the team flowing, and then made available a few interactive challenges for the scouts to engage in including robotic “writing,” running the robot, and asking lots of great questions! By the end of the evening, nearly all of the boxes had been checked on the scouts’ path to their Technology Badge. It was clear the experience was rewarding for everyone involved and the team.
After the state competition the team will be sharing their knowledge and desire to help others catch the “robotics bug” when we visit Foster School’s KIA program.
The state FTC (First Tech Challenge) Competition will find the 36 best teams in Massachusetts competing and is open to the public. It kicks off at 10am at Andover High School’s Collins Center and is also available to livestream on the Boston Tech Initiative FTC on YouTube. Winners advance to the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas April 17-20. We’d love to hear you cheering for the Cou-Gears from near and far!