Los Angeles FRC Regional Competition at Long Beach Arena
We arrived at the LA FRC Regionals in the Long Beach Arena around noon. As we were early, we went to watch part of the FRC competition and observe the bustling activity around the pit areas. Later, we returned to purchase lunch before the rush of all of the FRC teams and began to set up our demonstration area. We shared the station with another FLL team, Heat it Up or Keep it Cool Robotics (Team 2517). Many people ranging from children to adults passed by and observed our demonstration of the Food Factor field.
However, our robot’s program did not function correctly due to the material of the table being foam instead of the usual wood we practiced with. Thus, we connected the robot to Bluetooth in order for it to be remote controlled. This provided our young observers with a hands-on experience with the robot. As the children interacted with the robot, we explained to the various adults present about FLL, including a breakdown of the three parts of its competitions and how they could get involved. We also provided information to many parents, teachers, and other adults interested in finding a team for their children and even starting their own team.
Overall, our demonstration at the LA FRC Regionals was not only very enjoyable, but a valuable learning experience. From observations made during the demo, we came up with more ideas as to how to improve our demonstrations. First, we could allow children to remote control a simple robot on a field specifically designed for demo purposes to let them experience running the robot. Also, we could design a posterboard introducing others to FLL that would be reused every year. We could design our own handouts explaining what FLL is instead as well. All in all, the opportunity to demonstrate at the event was rewarding.
Click here for more pictures of our demo at the LA FRC Regionals.
Overall, our demonstration at the LA FRC Regionals was not only very enjoyable, but a valuable learning experience. From observations made during the demo, we came up with more ideas as to how to improve our demonstrations. First, we could allow children to remote control a simple robot on a field specifically designed for demo purposes to let them experience running the robot. Also, we could design a posterboard introducing others to FLL that would be reused every year. We could design our own handouts explaining what FLL is instead as well. All in all, the opportunity to demonstrate at the event was rewarding.
Click here for more pictures of our demo at the LA FRC Regionals.