Students find virtual robotics opportunities during the pandemic – Wicked Local

Olivia Crisafi, Victor Han, Erin Crisafi and Camille Gammack| Special to the Concord Journal

In a traditional season, the GearTicks, Lincolns high school robotics team, meet nearly every day in their coachs basement: designing the robot in CAD software, programming the robot in Java and organizing outreach events with our community. This year, they have been forced to adapt to new methods of sharing ideas, working together and designing, all from home.

One solution they figured out was fairly simple. Three times a week, during their usual scheduled in-person meeting times, the GearTicks all join a Google Meet and discuss their ideas, progress and goals. Different parts of the robot come together at different team members' homes, and gradually their robot starts to resemble a robot built any other year.

The greater challenge came with switching community STEM events to a virtual setting. In previous years, the GearTicks held STEM nights, created and mentored FIRST teams of other levels and attended STEM events. With every traditional option indefinitely on hold, the GearTicks began to plan ways to make STEM accessible even during the pandemic.

One of our favorite outreach events every year is our Legopalooza, said Prerna, a junior on the team. We love the opportunity to share our love for STEM with the students and see the work theyve done throughout their season.''

The Lincoln Legopalooza has been a space to celebrate STEM learning for the towns FLL Explore robotics teams. In past years, the event has been held in the Brooks Gym, and Lego robotics teams from Lincoln and surrounding towns gather to present their Lego models to a group of reviewers, and win custom laser cut trophies. Just as the GearTicks have been able to move online, they have carried one of their favorite events online with them. This year, the GearTicks third annual Lincoln Legopalooza will be held virtually at the beginning of April. Teams will be able to virtually present their Lego models and participate in fun virtual activities!

The Lincoln Legopalooza is the culmination of the FLL Explore season. FLL Explore is a fun, easy-to-run program that introduces young children to the world of robotics. FLL Explore teams, composed of two to six kids ages 6 to 10, build a model out of Legos and program a moving component with simple block programming. A full, easy-to-understand curriculum is provided by FIRST, so the program can be run by a mentor (a parent, grandparent, etc) with no technical background. FIRST provides meeting guides for coaches and workbooks (engineering notebooks) for team members.

FLL Explore is a great opportunity for children to learn teamwork skills, build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while having fun! This program is perfect to run as a family, with a group of close friends, or even virtually following in the GearTicks footsteps.

If your child is interested in FLL Explore, contact the GearTicks; there is still time to participate in FLL Explore and the Legopalooza! The GearTicks have experience with the FLL Explore program and have offered mentorship for anyone interested in starting a team. They can be contacted at hello@gearticks.com. More information about FLL Explore can be found at http://gearticks.com/fll-explore, https://youtu.be/Sq6w3jYVR8k and http://firstinspires.org/robotics/fll/explore/challenge-and-season.