Hey!!
My day was super duper cool! A lot happened. All of the girls who will be on the drive team at competitions met today to discuss everything from strategy to communications to expectations and responsibilities. It was interesting to hear them talk about competitions - I can't believe how soon they are! Meanwhile, the programmers and builders were working very hard. The programmers worked with the autonomous programs some more. They know how essential having that code perfect is going to be to the team's success, so they are trying to get it all cleaned up. The builders continued to wire me up, set up my boulder intake, and play around with my tape measure mechanism. Building me is allowing my team to realize ways that they can improve their original designs. I love spending every day with my team! To all my Firebirds - when I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be! XOXO Nox
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Girls. While I'm only a young robot, I know one thing for sure. Girls, especially the ones on my team, are true stars. Robots and guys are great - don't get me wrong. However, I think it's super important to celebrate the women around us on a daily basis. Not just today, which is International Women's Day. I love that my team have an extra excuse to celebrate today, but we try to make this day last all year long. After all, we all rise by lifting others up with us.
What better way is there for the girls to celebrate girl power than by using their fabulous skills in the shop? Today, they came in and worked on a variety of tasks. They learned a ton at the competition this weekend, so they started off by discussing what they learned. Some strategies were modified, other thoughts were reaffirmed. After that, they got down to business. The programmers thought about autonomous more. They also started configuring my electronics. I even drove a little today (on blocks, not on the ground)! The builders kept working on my boulder intake and tape measure mechanism. I'm getting so close to being fully functional - I can feel it! I feel so beyond lucky to have the opportunity to spend every day with my team. I know all robots think they have great teams, but I know I scored the jackpot! Until tomorrow, Nox Hello, friends!
Wow! The past two days have been so much fun for all of us here on team 433! This weekend, we sent a few girls and mentors to volunteer at the Hatboro-Horsham district competition. If you were there, you might have seen us - we were the ones with blue and orange ribbons working on field reset and refereeing! Volunteering was such a great opportunity for our team! We got to see how the game works before we compete. We also were able to give back to FIRST which was amazing. Best of all, we had a blast meeting new people, dancing, and cheering on teams! We would like to extend a congratulations to all of the teams who competed this weekend! You all did a fabulous job, and we wish you the best of luck during the rest of the competition season! Congratulations especially to all of the teams who won awards - you rock! We can't wait to compete at Springside-Chestnut Hill in less that two weeks! XOXO The Firebirds What's up, everyone? Today was fabulous! The girls had a half day today, which meant that I got to spend more time with them! It was a special day for them - they called it "Charity Day". I don't really know much about it, except for that it involved singing, games, funny outfits, and face paint. Anyway, I was glad to see the girls so cheerful this afternoon! The girls accomplished a lot today! Everyone was working on a different type of task. Some girls worked on the Chairman's Award presentation materials. Others looked into autonomous code solutions. A few girls worked on cleaning up my wiring and adding a few more connections. My boulder intake was further developped today. During all of this, some footage from week 1 competitions was playing. The girls loved cheering on other robots and looking at their designs! Oh! I almost forgot one more thing that happened today! The girls completed their video from the Scala visit on Tuesday! It's part of a video series that they're calling "What's The Buzz, Birds?" Check it out at the bottom of this post! For the next few days, my team won't be hanging out with me. They're going to a local competition. Lumos isn't competing. They're going to help out and watch the other robots. I can't wait to hear how it goes! XOXO Nox Hey everybody!
Another day, another adventure! Today, my team worked hard to get me closer to being ready. They continued to wire me up and write my code. My pneumatics tank was mounted and more pieces for my boulder intake were set up. Now that we aren't in the crunch time of build season, girls are venturing out of their comfort zones more and learning new skills. Something really exciting happened today! Some of my team's friends from LaSalle came to visit. They had a meeting about scouting and strategy. Hopefully, the things that they discussed will help us out at competitions. I can't believe how much I am starting to look like Lumos. Soon, I will be driving around and hanging just like him! Until tomorrow, Nox Hey everyone!
Don't worry. My name may be Nox, but I'm definitely not obnoxious. My team has taught me to be a humble robot. I just am really loving my new name! Today was so much fun! I'm so excited about how I am getting closer and closer to becoming a full robot just like Lumos! Much progress was made today. Some girls worked on my wiring and electronics. They mounted my voltage regulator module, pneumatics control module, roborio, and power distribution board. Then, they began to wire those together. They also began to wire my drive motors. Meanwhile, some girls focused on reading over the game manual. They want to make sure that they don't break any rules when Lumos is on the field. Some other builders focused on mounting my compressor and building pieces for my boulder intake. A few girls worked on touching up and adjusting field elements so they are ready once I start practicing. I'm adoring all of the attention that I am getting! Don't get me wrong, I miss Lumos a bunch. However, it's nice to have everyone focusing on me! Until tomorrow, Nox Hey everyone!
We are so excited to share the adventure that we had today with all of you! We are so lucky to have sponsors who not only support our team financially, but who also go above and beyond to encourage us and reach out to us. Today, we had the opportunity to spend some time with one of our fabulous sponsors! Right after school today, Emma, Annie, Cianna, Hannah, and Mrs. Soley drove out to Malvern to represent our team and visit Scala's Americas headquarters. One of our mentors, Mr. Rossman, met us there. Once we walked into the office, we were blown away. Scala works with digital signage software, and examples of their work were all over the office walls. Mr. Nix, the CEO of Scala, greeted and welcomed us at the door. We were so thrilled to have the opportunity to thank him for all of the support he has given our team. Then, we went on a tour of the headquarters. Mr. Nix introduced us to many of the employees at Scala and demonstrated multiple of their latest technologies. We were so impressed by the solutions that we will be seeing in the world around us soon. We were even able to try out a few! We loved hearing stories from different professionals about what they do and why they love it. At the end of the tour, we had the privilege to interview Mr. Nix and hear some wonderful insights from him. We will share that footage with you all soon! Today was so amazing in so many ways! We appreciated the chance to thank one of our biggest supporters in person. We were reminded of the many doors that are opened through FIRST and STEM. And most importantly, we had so much fun learning about new technologies with everyone at Scala! Thanks a million to Scala and all of our sponsors! XOXO The Firebirds Hey pals!!
It's me, Nox! If you're feeling confused right now, that's ok. I'm still adjusting to my new name, too. I love it, though! Today was another thrilling adventure with my team! They came down to the shop and worked on making me look just like Lumos. That meant building my electronics shelves, cutting pieces for my ball intake, beginning to wire, and finding more parts that I will need later. Everyone is having so much fun working together! It's almost as if build season never ended! Until tomorrow!!! Nox Hello!!
Before we start, we would just like to let you know that this blog post is not being written by any of our robots tonight. We are so glad that you have gotten to know and love them over the past few weeks! Tonight, both of our robots were fast asleep in the basement during our adventures, so we guess we'll have to tell you want happened ourselves. Tonight was the annual Firebirds potluck dinner!! We all gathered together in celebration of build season's achievements and in anticipation of competition season's accomplishments. Our families, mentors, sponsors, and friends joined us for an exciting and memorable evening. We had a lot of tasty food to eat from fruit salad to meatballs and pasta to cupcakes to buffalo chicken dip to soft pretzels! Everyone had a really great time together. We made sure to take the time to thank everyone who helped us to soar throughout the year and recognize some stars on our team. Most importantly, we gave Robot and Brother their permanent names. We started off with a list of about 20 names and slowly narrowed it down to a few. Eventually, we decided on the names of Lumos and Nox for Robot and Brother respectively. In case you did not understand the reference, lumos is the wand-lighting charm in the Harry Potter series and nox is the wand-extinguishing charm. We had so much fun tonight! We can't wait to see the next adventures from Lumos and Nox! XOXO The Firebirds Hello?
I'm not exactly sure if I'm doing this right... Well, if you can read this, then I guess that means that I was successful. Yay! Anyway, my name is Brother (for now). You might now my brother, Robot. He wrote blog posts all throughout build season. He's also my best friend. Except for the fact that right now, he's been sleeping inside of a big plastic bag. My team put him there last week because build season is over. I miss chatting with him and driving around together. I think I could deal with being without him for a while if it weren't for one huge issue - Robot snores. A lot. That bag is not snore-proof!!! Every day, I have to listen to his loud rumbling. I wish I could put on those noise-blocking headphones that some of the girls on my team use when they need to block out a loud sound. So for the past few days, no on has been coming down to visit me in the shop. It was kind of weird because they used to work with us every day. It's just been me and Robot's snoring. That's why I was so surprised to see my team show up today! The came in for two reasons - they wanted to work on my new frame, and they needed to film some things for a team video. They attached the wheels to my new frame, started setting up my electronics, and began working on duplicating Robot's tape measure mechanism for me. The whole time, my team played a live feed from a competition. Who knew there were so many other cool robots to play with all over the world! Meanwhile, the girls were also hard at work outside. They had a lot of fun being very creative with the team video. This video is for an award called the Chairman's Award. They made sure to let their superstar personalities shine through during the filming. I can't wait to see the final product! Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Robot and me. Actually, it will be a big day for us robots - I better stop using our old names. Soon, you'll understand what I'm talking about. I'll let you know all about it! XOXO Brother |