NYCFIRST Update 20: Jan. 3, 2008

NYCFIRST Update 20: Jan. 3, 2008

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area.

ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION IS POSTED AT
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

If you want to be removed from this list type "unsubscribe" in the subject area and hit return. If you already asked and it didn't happen yet, ask again as sometimes I get behind in paperwork.

Are you having difficulty with anything (other than your personal relationships – well, maybe those too)? CALL ME 917-992-3734

HAPPY NEW YEAR

IMPORTANT FOR TEAMS GOING TO RIVERBANK

We need an email confirmation for each team that will be attending.

Please include the team number and your school/organization in the email and check the accuracy of the information for your team(s) listed by borough at the end of this email:

Team # School/Organization Team Name Coaches' name(s)


The program guide for the tournament is being finalized this week so an immediate response is necessary.

(Note: Depending on the layout, in some cases there may be room for only 1 coach's name)

Also:
Send the number of team members (rough count):
The total number of people that may be attending at Riverbank - parents, students, teachers. Very rough count:


We will be emailing an information packet to you in the next week with a form attached to fill out for each team.


You are invited to:
Brooklyn Tech's Live Feed of the

US FIRST ROBOTICS KICKOFF

LIVE from FIRST HQ in Manchester, New Hampshire

Saturday, Jan. 5th at 9AM

My name is Bryan Parra, and I am the President of the Brooklyn Tech Robotics Team. Brooklyn Tech was interested in setting up a stream of FRC Kickoff at our school for some of our members and alumni. Today I received confirmation from Principal Asher, and he told us that we can invite JFLL and FLL teams also, with a maximum capacity of 1000 people.

Bryan Parra

WHO:
All FIRST Lego Teams

WHY:
To learn about US FIRST Robotics (FRC) and watch the Kickoff for the 2008 game. FRC is the next level after FLL!!

WHERE:
Brooklyn Technical High School Auditorium
29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217

WHEN:
Saturday, January 5th- 9AM

HOW:
E-mail to TechKickOff@gmail.com with your team's name, a contact person and the number of people attending. We will send you a confirmation along with directions to the school.


NOTE: There will also be a live feed at Polytechnic University in downtown Brooklyn.


Going to MIT

Stuyvesant student and member of the school's robotic team Theo Kunicki has devoted a lot of time to assisting at a number of our qualifiers. Her mom Catherine has been an integral part of the FLL Planning committee and her dad Ron has been at all the events. I remember seeing Ron stuck in the airport at Atlanta last April with part of the Stuy team. Are these active parents or what?

Jim Hoffman, Theo's middle school teacher had a team entered in the Queens tournament. She went back this week to give the team a hand despite being incredibly busy. After all, that was where she got her start in robotics.

At the Queens tournament on Dec. 15 Theo was particularly nervous. At 12 pm she would hear whether she got into MIT. A few weeks ago she had even gotten to talk to Woody Flowers, MIT prof and one of the founders of FIRST, who called her to encourage her.

While the hours passed quickly for us, they went slowly for the Kunickis.

Finally the word came.

YES!

Congrats to the entire Kunicki family. Theo will be heading to Boston and maybe get to hang out with one of NYCFIRST's family members Wayne Penn who is now working for Dean Kamen.

She was not the only one to get into MIT from Stuvesant.
Steven Lam - Team 694's President of Engineering, who attended a lot of FLL Planning Committee meetings this fall - found out he was accepted at MIT early admissions also. A third team member, Danny Zhu, the Director of Programming was also accepted and a fourth team member was deferred.


MIT alumni have had a mentoring program going with NYCFIRST for a number of years and here are a bunch of new recruits in 4 years who sure know the ropes.


The 82 teams going to Riverbank for the citywide tournament

Bronx
0083 CS 66 X CS66 B.R.A.T.S Christopher BladesJames Bellon
0196 PS/IS 123 X Eagles Chris GoodingKelleyann Royce
0268 MS 101X Maritime Academy Maritime Warriors Michele SikoryakPunit Gandhi
0506 Pablo Casals MS 181x The Crusaders Terry Buchalter
0705 Globe Schl for Environ. Rsrch GLOBE Masters Michael JoycePaul Riter
0707 Globe Schl for Environ. Rsrch GLOBE Masters Michael Joyce/Paul Riter
0845 MS 302 X MS302 Tech Squad Sharon Shoatz
1634 ESMT IS 190 X Team X Maribeth Whitehouse
1673 PS 195X Molecules Zelma Torres-Rosado
1822 MS 118 X Pacers Ralph Corvino
1911 PS 76XThe Bennington School 76ers Russell Heath
2132 IS 98 X Ridder Kids Harold Smith
2154 PS 121 X Storm Throopers Kathy BormannMaria Scher
2201 MS 144 xMichaelangelo MS 144 GoBots Victoria Lowe
2269 PS 68 X PS 68 Mind Openers II Andrew HarrisonBarbara Tully
2284 HS of Computers & Tech LEGO Devils Stan Bellis
2349 PS 103 x LEGOBotic Beez Jarret Jackob
2350 PS 103 x LEGOBotic Beez Jarret Jackob
2415 Kezner Academy @IS 192 X Accelerators Jim Love/Nikki Havel
4084 Bronx Latin MS Architecti Eddie Branchaud
4785 PS 153 x Nanobots Mary Ann Milano
4815 Frederick Douglass Academy FDA LEGO Raiders Mary HuiDanielle Nunez
4817 Frederick Douglass Academy Junior Raiders Alyssa Rosenbaum
5148 PS 304X DragonBots Sandra Kamelgarn
5264 IS 174 X Microbots Esteban Vazuez
5744 PS 108X 108 Charles Sperrazza


Manhattan
1447 Trevor Day School The Little Dragons Steven Schechter
2627 Little Red School LREI 1 Sherezada Acosta
4795 Man Youth @IS 289 M Cougers Annie Xu
Theseus Roche
4850 Man Acad of Tech MATobot Hau-Yu Chu
PS126/MAT/ChinatownYMCA
5205 The Brearley School Brearley Beavers Annie Cheung
Luigi Cicala
6047 PS 1 Robotics Seung Won Lee
6115 Man East MS 224 Man East Melissa Cancel
6482 Little Red School LREI 2 Sherezada Acosta


Brooklyn
0160 MS 51K Generals James Hoffman
0447 PS 372 K Static Fanatics Rita Fasano
Vicki Holland
Haiva Albuliwi
0844 St. Edmund School Nerd Herd Christine Zaremba
1435 Packer Collegiate Inst. Pack-a-Watt Maureen Reilly
1472 The Carroll School Black Hornets Keith Wynne
1475 PS 58 The Carroll Sch Black Heroes Keith Wynne
1654 PS 21K Crispus Attucks Panthers Carla Arnold
2070 PS 11K Behan Robots Rasheda Lyons
2090 PS 261K The Energy Freaks Jennifer Lindauer-Thompson
Chris Peyser
Scott Howard
2880 Benj Banneker Acad RoboWarriors Imani Fischer
3107 Bedford Academy BedBot Cluny Lavache
3628 IS383 Philippa Schuyler Skybox Lindrick Outerbridge
4949 Brooklyn Tech HS Brooklyn Tech Knights Gordon Williams
5090 PS 282 K RoboWarriors Aisha Marsh
5100 MS 88 K Masterminds2 Andy Singh
5101 MS 88 K Masterminds3 Andy Singh
5689 PS 81 PS 81 RoboKids.com Bell Bishop


Staten Island
0198 Staten Island Tech HS Tech Knights Mike Siegal
Steve Raile
0199 Staten Island Tech HS Tech Knows Dennis Giurici
0332 IS 24 SI Rogue LeadersRaymond Cottrell
0990 IS 34 SI Techno Eagles Joseph Buro
0992 IS 34 SI Stell Talons Joseph Buro
1408 St. Clare School Transformers 1 Mary Lee
1409 St. Clare School Transformers 2 Mary Lee
1410 St. Clare School Transformers 3 Mary Lee
1411 St. Clare School Transformers 4 Mary Lee
1965 IS 72 SI V Team Deric Borrero
1995 IS 75 SI Panthers 1 Donny Swanson
1996 IS 75 SI Panthers 2 Donny Swanson
2235 Coen at Home Micro Bots Patrick Coen
2258 IS 27 SI Mustangs 2 Bryan Kilgallen
5499 IS 49 SI Robo Spartans Carol Obler
5501 IS 49 SI Powah Playaz Carol Obler


Queens
0394 MS 67Q Energize67 Ruta Dave
0573 IS 125 Q Mr. Roboto Rudy Vera
0948 Brics-2-Bots CyberbotsTechsVeryl Greene
1863 IS 119 Q TopGearz Chris Dudin
2395 IS 192 Q Robo Fusion Eric Greene
2728 IS 10 Q IBest 3000 Pat Shubitz
3126 JHS 185 (Bleeker) Stars Primal Dhillon
3840 Bric-2-Bots Cyberbot- Eng. Veryl Greene
3874 MS 216Q The Lions Peter Xanthus
4113 Resurrection Ascension Titans Janna Valente
5517 IS 119 Q TopGearz Chris Dudin
5618 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops David Mabrey
Richard Akalski
Joshua Blum
5619 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops 2 Same as 5618
6292 Cambria Center Warbots Sheryl Liles
7203 IS 126 Q Stingers Stephan Linardic


Compiled by Norm Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
normsco@gmail.com
917-992-3734

--
Have a good day

Norm

Aviation HS hosts LEGO robotics tournament

By Nathan Duke

12/20/2007

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More than 200 elementary and middle school students descended on Long Island City's Aviation High School to compete last weekend in a LEGO-based robotics tournament for a chance to earn a spot in a nationwide championship to be held next year in Atlanta.

Students, ages 9 to 14, from 24 borough school-based teams showed off their technological skills to a panel of judges and scientists Saturday at the FIRST LEGO League qualifying tournament, during which they crafted robots to carry out various duties that pertain to real-world problems, including the environment and energy production, said Norman Scott, a former Queens school teacher who was involved in overseeing the day's events.

"The concept behind this was to create a sporting team atmosphere for science," he
said.

For its 10th year, the competition, which is sponsored by the FIRST organization and LEGO, incorporated a theme called Power Puzzle, which explored how to save energy in a world where people use it more each day, a spokesman for the competition said.

FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology - was founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen to get children excited about technology.

Students taking part in this year's competition followed a program from the beginning of their school year, that included researching a real-world problem, presenting solutions, building a robot using engineering concepts, programming the robot and, at the competition, using the robot to carry out tasks, such as removing hazardous materials from a plastic floor mat that acts as a research field, Scott said. Teams of no more than 10 students worked together during the competition to complete tasks with their robots.

Team coaches said the event enabled students to think outside the classroom.

"Kids love it," said coach Richard Akalski, who teaches science at East Elmhurst's Lewis Armstrong Middle School. "It gives them something on which they can focus their classroom skills."

Joan Weber, assistant principal at Glendale's IS 119, said her school's team is probably the only one in the borough which meets during school hours. She said she believes that the school's students benefited from applying information from their classes to the project.

"The children are fully immersed in it during the day rather than waiting until after school," she said.

Students taking part in the competition said it was a great learning experience.

"We learn about how to become a team," said Anthony Gonsalez, 12, a seventh-grader at Flushing's JHS 185. "Sometimes it's not about doing it alone, but asking others to help you."

Scott said most of the students at the competition were from Queens' Region 4, which encompasses the western portion of the borough.

The top 16 teams at the competition will soon compete in a citywide competition, Scott said. The winners at that event will then go on to compete at a nationwide competition in Atlanta in April, he said.

Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.

©Times Ledger 2007

Profs look to reprogram computer courses

5/27/2007, 11:24 a.m. PDT
By GREG BLUESTEIN
The Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The lesson plan was called "Artificial Unintelligence," but it was written more like a comic book than a syllabus for a serious computer science class.
"Singing, dancing and drawing polygons may be nifty, but any self-respecting evil roboticist needs a few more tricks in the repertoire if they are going to take over the world," read the day's instructions to a dozen or so Georgia Tech robotics students.
They had spent the last few months teaching their personal "Scribbler" robots to draw shapes and chirp on command. Now they were being asked to navigate a daunting obstacle course of Girl Scout cookie boxes scattered over a grid.

The course is aimed at reigniting interest in computer science among undergraduates. Educators at Georgia Tech and elsewhere are turning to innovative programs like the Scribbler to draw more students to the field and reverse the tide of those leaving it.

At risk, professors say, is nothing less than U.S. technology supremacy. As interest in computer science drops in the U.S., India and China are emerging as engineering hubs with cheap labor and a skilled work force.

Schools across the country are taking steps to broaden the appeal of the major. More than a dozen universities have adopted "media computation" programs, a sort of alternate introduction to computer science with a New Media vibe. The classes, which have been launched at schools from the University of San Francisco to Virginia Tech, teach basic engineering using digital art, digital music and the Web.

Others are turning to niche fields to attract more students. The California Institute of Technology, which has seen a slight drop in undergraduate computer science majors, has more than made up for the losses by emphasizing the field of bioengineering.

"Many of our computer science faculty work on subjects related to biology, and so this new thrust works well for us," said Joel Burdick, a Caltech bioengineering professor.

At Georgia Tech, computing professor Tucker Balch says the brain drain is partly the fault of what he calls the "prime number" syndrome.

It's the traditional way to teach computer science students by asking them to write programs that spit out prime numbers, the Fibonacci sequence or other mathematical series.
It's proven a sound way to educate students dead-set on joining the ranks of computer programmers, but it's also probably scared away more than a few.

That's why Balch, who oversees the robotics class, is optimistic about the Scribbler, a scrappy blue robot cheap enough for students to buy and take home each night after class but versatile enough to handle fairly complex programs.

The key to the class is the design of the robot. It weighs about a pound and is slightly smaller than a Frisbee, sporting three light-detecting sensors and a speaker that can chirp. And at about $75, it's roughly the price of a science textbook.

The class centers on twice-weekly lectures, but the real excitement is in the weekly breakout session. That's where teaching assistants outline their cheeky lesson plans and instruct students how to use commands like turnLeft() and sense() to navigate their Scribblers around makeshift obstacle courses.

Students aren't just teaching the Scribblers how to move, they're teaching them how to dance, how to draw and how to create music — a sort of artistic dynamo.

"It's a lot of fun," said Ami Shah, a 21-year-old senior biology major. "I've learned a lot from this class, and I think it's a really handy skill."

Professors are planning to expand the class from around 30 students to more than 200 next semester and are exporting the class to two other Georgia schools in the fall.

Georgia Tech, which has branded the robot the "new face of computing," is hoping that the class can be a new national model to teach students computing. To Microsoft Corp., which is investing $1 million to jump-start the program at Georgia Tech and Bryn Mawr, it's investment in what could become its work force.

Outside groups have applauded the effort, too.

"In fact, computing is a tool that can be used for virtually every application — from entertainment to medicine," said Virginia Gold of the Association for Computing Machinery. "And the Scribbler helps show how pervasive computers are in everything."
The computing industry has a reason to be concerned about the future.

The number of new computer science majors has steadily declined since 2000, falling from close to 16,000 students to only 7,798 in fall 2006, according to the Computing Research Association.

And the downward trend isn't expected to reverse soon. The association says about 1 percent of incoming freshmen have indicated computer science as a probable major, a 70 percent drop from the rate in 2000.

The aftermath of the dot-com bust may have triggered the exodus, but computer scientists admit they've also been slow to adapt to the changes by reprogramming their teaching methods.

Although the Scribbler is one of several methods to lure more students to the field, its popularity has been surprising. Some 30 schools have already expressed interest in the course, said Deepak Kumar, the chair of Bryn Mawr's computer science department.

"It's fresh and new and engaging," said Kumar, who teaches a class of 24 Scribbler-wielding students. "We've got our fingers on one way to solve the problem."

Balch, who is watching the students from the corner of the classroom, is happy to agree.
"It beats prime numbers."
____
On the Net:
http://www.roboteducation.org

NYCFIRST Update 19: Happy Holidays, on to Riverbank

Dec. 24, 2007

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area.

ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION IS POSTED AT THE BLOG

http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/


Are you having difficulty with anything (other than your personal relationships – well, maybe those too)? CALL ME 917-992-3734



On to Riverbank

The citywide tournament will take place on Saturday, January 26 at Riverbank State Park (145th St. and Riverside Drive). The time frame is roughly 8-4 with registration opening at 8 am and judging beginning almost immediately. We will send more details in January related to scheduling, parking, transportation, food, etc.



Note: 82 teams qualified. The 60 teams that did not are invited to come to Riverbank and participate in the festivities. Also a great experience for building the program in your school by bringing parents and interested staff.



Correction: I left out a Brooklyn Qualifying team from PS 81, The PS 81 RoboKids.com. They won 3rd place in the Robot Design category. Bell Bishop is the coach.



Qualifiers a success

Well, we managed to do it. Run 5 full-fledged qualifying events in a 3-week period with a full complement of judges and referees (expanding our volunteer base tremendously for the future), thus opening up our ability to give many more teams and kids in the NYC area the FIRST LEGO League experience. Running an event for the 82 teams going on to Riverbank should be a snap. Especially since it is only 1 day. I'm ducking as I write this.

We knew this was a transition year as we were reaching our max of 160 teams that could compete at the citywide in 2 days. Thus, this year, with registration running at 190 teams we bit the bullet and went to qualifiers. In fact, 142 teams actually showed up at the 5 events (139 showed up in the 2 days last year). The 50 others were either people who had registered multiple teams but decided to cut back, had funding issues, coaches or administrators moving to other schools or had difficulty meeting the earlier time table. We expect many of them back next year.

By moving ahead at this time, we feel we can now handle 250-300 teams. Space may be tight in some venues which might call for looking for larger venues. Or we can run more than 5 qualifiers (still ducking). But that is a problem for next year. Phew!



The tight time frame

There were complaints about how quickly we had to move. As we've pointed out, these events require the participation of the senior high school robotics kids and their coaches, many of who were in charge of running the local events. Since their season runs from the first week of January right through April, we are squeezed for time and getting the qualifiers done in December is the best option.



We will look at other options next year but we may not have too much room to vary things. So, think about registering and paying as early as possible so you can get the materials in late August, but do so with the knowledge that this does not guarantee you entry to the citywide event. The $250 registration fees go the national FIRST and not to NYCFIRST. There is a need to have a small fee at the local events to cover basic costs for food for volunteers, rental of chairs, etc. and that is where the $30 charge came from.



Queens tournament

The attendees at the event were thrilled at the venue – the aircraft hanger at Aviation HS - with airplanes in the backdrop. Tournament director Michael Koumoulos did a fabulous job in running his first tournament and enlisted practically his entire family (except his few months old son Dennis.) We'll get pictures up on the blog.



Pics from Queens tournament from Catherine Kunicki posted at:

http://homepage.mac.com/marsvi0let/FLL-Manhattan/PhotoAlbum85.html
http://homepage.mac.com/marsvi0let/FLL-Manhattan/PhotoAlbum83.html

http://homepage.mac.com/marsvi0let/FLL-Manhattan/PhotoAlbum82.html

http://homepage.mac.com/marsvi0let/FLL-Manhattan/PhotoAlbum82.html

http://homepage.mac.com/marsvi0let/FLL-Manhattan/PhotoAlbum80.html


Queens Qualifiers

0160 MS 51K Generals James Hoffman Research 4th

0394 MS 67Q Energize67 Ruta Dave Sabina Robot Design 3rd

0573 IS 125 Q Mr. Roboto Rudy Vera Research 2nd

0948 Community team Cyberbots Veryl Greene Performance 1st

1863 IS 119 Q TopGearz Chris Dudin Directors Award

2395 IS 192 Q Robo Fusion 192 Eric Greene Performance 4th

2728 IS 10 Q Horace Greeley IS Best 3000 Pat Shubitz Judges Award

3126 Edward Bleeker JHS 185 Stars Primal Dhillon Robot Design 2nd

3840 Bric-2-Bots Cyberots-Engineers Veryl Greene Robot Performance 2nd

3874 MS 216Q George Ryan The Lions Peter Xanthus Robot Design 1st

4113 Resurrection Ascension Titans Janna Valente Teamwork 1st

5517 IS 119 Q TopGearz Chris Dudin Joan Weber Teamwork 3rd

5618 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops 2 David Mabrey/Richard Akalski/ Joshua Blum Robot Performance 3rd

5619 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops 2 Same as 5618 Research 3rd

6292 Cambria Center Cambria Warbots Sheryl Liles Sheree Palmer Research 1st

7203 IS 126 Q S 126Q Stingers Stephan Linardic Teamwork 2nd


Staten Island Qualifiers

Mike Siegal and his FRC team did his usual wonderful job at the Staten Island tournament at SI Tech and things went like clockwork.


0198 Staten Island Tech HS Tech Knights Mike Siegal Performance Award 1st

0199 Staten Island Tech HS Tech Knows Mike Siegal Performance Award 4th

0332 IS 24 SI Rogue Leaders Raymond Cottrell Jane Frangos Research Award 3rd

0990 IS 34 SI Techno Eagles Joseph Buro Judges Award

0992 IS 34 SI Stell Talons Joseph Buro Teamwork 2nd

1408 St. Clare School Transformers 1 Mary Lee Performance 3rd

1409 St. Clare School Transformers 2 Mary Lee Performance 2nd

1410 St. Clare School Transformers 3 Mary Lee Research 2nd

1411 St. Clare School Transformers 4 Mary Lee Research 4th

1965 IS 72 SI V Team Deric Borrero Research 1st

1995 IS 75 SI Panthers 1 Donny Swanson Teamwork 3rd

1996 IS 75 SI Panthers 2 Donny Swanson Design 2nd

2235 Coen (Home) Micro Bots Patrick Coen Design 1st

2258 IS 27 SI Mustangs 2 Bryan Kilgallen Teamwork 1st

5499 IS 49 SI Robo Spartans Carol Obler Directors

5501 IS 49 SI Powah Playaz s Carol Obler Design 3rd



Looking to buy field-set up kit

Richard Shen is trying to get a program going in the Great Neck area. He writes after attending the Queens tournament:

It was great to see the excitement and the joy of challenge in the faces of the children and their families.

I'd like to get a set or two of the field kit which I am willing to purchase.

I can be contacted through my e-mail: richard@rysingmedia.com or call

917-538-4934.



Blogger Ms. Frizzle Reports on the Bronx tournament: the life of a coach

http://msfrizzle.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/and-today/

Up at 6:30, met the kids around 8:30 in the Bronx… right after the opening ceremony, we were up for the research presentation. The kids went in discombobulated, unprepared, and nervous, and came out elated: It was perfect! They said they can't wait to see our musical! Then it was directly to our first robot performance match, where we scored 24 points with the programs misloaded onto the RCX. I saw the scoreboard before our second match: we weren't last - but only no-shows were below us. I decided that wasn't the moment to point out the team rankings to the kids. Off to the technical presentation, again the kids came out feeling proud of their conversation with the judges. Coaches aren't allowed into those events, but I'd love to have been a fly on the wall! Second match, zero points. I think we were DQ'd for a misunderstanding of the rules. Third match, after a breather and some adjustments to the robot (one of our motors had zonked out), sooo much better, 88 points, a bunch of missions completed although mostly by accident. The robot was overpowered and crashed into the walls and everything else, but we put some points up on the board! Fourth match, power level turned down and the two robot operators confident and with a revised plan, we completed five missions and scored 128 points and vaulted up to 23rd place (out of 42). This time I let the kids notice the scoreboard. We're going to win!! We're going to win!! Trying to be positive while still managing their expectations so I wouldn't have tears after the awards ceremony… This is the best we've ever done and all the kids are having fun and staying engaged and cheering on their teammates. Fifth round, I don't know what we scored but it was even better, six missions completed and nearly seven. We cleaned up our pit table and grabbed seats in the bleachers to watch the Lehman HS cheer team perform. Another teacher from school showed up and the kids mobbed him to tell him about their day. The announcer had us all do the chicken dance, the YMCA, and then invited all the kids down onto the gym floor for a 500-strong Cha-Cha Slide. Going into the awards ceremony, our kids were so sure they'd win something, it kind of broke my heart. I figured we had a small chance of a judges' award, possibly teamwork, but that was about it… still, I was so proud of them because they'd learned a ton, worked hard, and stayed positive… so I told them that and crossed my fingers. The little boy next to me asked after every award how many were left (um, one fewer than the last time you asked…). I have to give them credit, they were really disappointed but didn't sulk or make unpleasant comments about the winning teams. We talked about next steps, I asked who had a good day, every hand went up, and I sent them off to their weekends.


Running local events

Small local events can take place at your school. After school or even during-school events might be fun. Contact me for assistance if you need ideas or to put you in touch with others in your vicinity.

We would like to see as many teams as possible have more opportunities to continue the program. Preparing for these events that keeps kids interested.



Compiled by Norm Scott

NYCFIRST Registration coordinator

norscot@aol.com

normsco@gmail.com

917-992-3734

--
Have a good day

Norm

NYCFIRST Update 18

I forgot to post this update from last week.
Note change in Brooklyn Qualifier:
PS 81 K won Robot Design 3rd place


NYCFIRST Update 18: Fifty are going to Riverbank, 30 to go
Dec. 14, 2007

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area.

ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION IS POSTED AT
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

If you want to be removed from this list type "unsubscribe" in the subject area and hit return. If you already asked and it didn't happen yet, ask again as sometimes I get behind in paperwork.

Are you having difficulty with anything (other than your personal relationships – well, maybe those too)? CALL ME 917-992-3734

Bronx and Brooklyn Tournaments a success
44 teams in the Bronx at Lehman HS (thanks to Gary Israel and Evan Weinberg and all the kids) and 34 teams at Brooklyn Tech (thanks to teacher Gordon Williams and robotic team members Ruwan and Boris and a cast of thousands.) There are links to pics and other stuff below.

If your team(s) did not make it to Riverbank, you are still welcome to bring them to Riverbank or come and volunteer yourself – one of the best ways to get great coaching tips.

Running local events
Furthermore, you are invited to run small local events at your school after Jan. 26. After school or even during school events might be fun. Contact me to help put you in touch with others in your vicinity.

We are also hoping a local college would sponsor an event in February or March. We would like to see as many teams as possible have more opportunities to continue.

We all know that the timeframe and scheduling and other issues this year had an impact and with more time, many more schools would have better results. The key was to come to a qualifier and no matter what the results to continue the program. Even if we held the events later in the year, we still only have room for 80 teams at the citywide so this will occur every year. What we need is more events to meet the desire to take part in the competitions.

May and June are good times to hold events and they don't have to be the Power Puzzle. For the past few years in Region 4 we held an event with 5 activities like slaloms, wall climbing, drag racing, a creative activity – (break dancing, drawing robots and the like) and anything you can think of.

Building a support network at your school
People come to their first event and are amazed at how some schools show up with a big support effort. Some ask for advice on how to make that happen and it is something we should explore in more detail. I spent some time talking to Roberta Davenport, principal at PS 307K at Brooklyn Tech who was just wowed by the activities and hopes to bring the same spirit to her school. The fact that she showed up to support the team is one of the factors that help build the program. I told her we at NYCFIRST would do what we could to assist.


CBRI: Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative
PS 307 is part of a 10 school grant from the Independence Community Foundation arranged through former District 13 Superintendent Dr. Lester Young aimed at schools in central Brooklyn. The grant was run through Polytechnic U and provided financial support and mentors from students at Poly to the schools. They were all first year programs and did extremely well at the Brooklyn Tech tournament. A support network and mentoring are 2 keys to building a program.


With the constant reorganizations in the NYC DOE and teacher movement over the past 5 years, we have lost many programs which lost support from districts or regions and these networks have to constantly be rebuilt. That has cut into the growth of FLL but there are always new programs taking hold.

Despite all this, FLL in NYC has continued to expand. We expect 140 teams to compete in the qualifiers this year, about equal to the total that took part in the 2 events at Riverbank last year. 52 are new and we expect some of our vets back next year plus the schools that could not get it together in the time frame.
We are already thinking about how to expand into more qualifiers next year, which hopefully will be a bit later in the season to give everyone more time. These updates and the blog will keep you informed.

Mark Gura
Down near the end of this email, Gary Israel thanks Mark Gura, who was also one of my gurus when it came to robotics. Mark was the director of tech ed in the city before the reorganizations and funded many of the early FLL events when I first got involved. Mark created a citywide ed tech team and a sense of a mission to integrate computer technology into the schools. We'll get into more of what Mark has been doing in another update.

Teri Bader, now the director of tech ed in Manhattan worked for Mark and that's how I met her. Teri, until June head of region 4 tech, got me reinvolved in robotics after I retired and fueled the region 4 robotics project. I take pride in introducing her to the great Stephen Shapinsky who became our full-time robotics mentor from 2004 until last June. I remember taking Stephen along to robotics training in the Bronx in his early days as a teacher at PS 31K – a training sponsored by Mark Gura. When Stephen built and programmed his first robot in about 15 minutes, I knew we had a star.

Teri has brought her expertise and support to FLL, especially as a volunteer at Riverbank and this year has offered to be there for us once again (SHE IS THANKING US IT IS ONLY ONE DAY – SLEEP IN ON SUNDAY, TERI.)


This Saturday we will wrap up the qualifying rounds

The Staten Island tournament, run by Mike Siegel will take place at Staten Island Tech and the Queens tournament, headed by Mike Koumoulos, will be at Aviation HS this Saturday, each with about 25 teams expected.

Both Mikes teach at the schools, so in the midst of all of that and the Xmas season they have found the time to run these events: the spirit of FLL


Queens Tournament at Aviation High School
City Councilman John Liu will be attending.

45-30 36th Street (between Queens Blvd and 47th Ave.)
Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 361-2032
Saturday, December 15, 2007


Schedule
8:00 – 8:45 Registration
8:30 – 9:00 Judging (Judging continues after the opening ceremony and ends at the start of lunch)
9:00 – 9:15 Opening Ceremony
9:30 – 10:20 Round 1
10:20 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:10 Round 2
11:10 – 11:30 Round 3
11:30 – 12:15 Lunch
12:15 – 12:40 Round 4
12:40 – 12:50 Break
12:50 – 1:40 Round 5
1:40 – 2:00 Break
2:00 – 2:40 Awards/ Closing Ceremony
2:40 – 3:30 Clean Up (We ask all teams to help stack the chairs and clean the pits.)

Directions: 7 train to 33 St./ Rawson St. Parking is available under the 7 train on Queens Blvd. It costs $4 for the day. You must pay with quarters so bring at least 16.

Contact Info: Michael Koumoullos mike@koumoullos.com (917) 208-5629
Google Group: fllqueens. Go to http://groups.google.com and search for fllqueens.


Team # School Team Name Coach
0160 MS 51K Generals James Hoffman
0394 MS 67Q Energize67 Ruta Dave
0526 East Harlem Tutorial EHTP Blazers Danny Peralta
0573 IS 125 Q Mr. Roboto Rudy Vera
0575 Baccal. Sch. For Global Educ. BSGE Fighting Stinger Melissa Hinson
0782 PS 148Q Mission Masters 4 Mike Farrell
0783 PS 148Q Mission Masters 5 Mike Farrell
0948 MS 217 Q Cyberbots Veryl Greene
1814 IS 230 Q Transformatrix Sonya Rencher
1863 IS 119 Q TopGearz Chris Dudin
2395 IS 192 Q Robo Fusion 192 Eric Greene
2397 IS 192 Q Robo Babez Eric Greene
2603 World Journalism Prep School Lego Warriors Jessica Cimini
2728 IS 10 Q Horace Greeley Best 3000 Pat Shubitz
3126 Edward Bleeker JHS 185 Stars Primal Dhillon
3127 Edward Bleeker JHS 185 Hi Tech Minds Primal Dhillon
3840 Bric-2-Bots Cyberots-Engineers Veryl Greene
3874 MS 216Q George Ryan The Lions Peter Xanthus
4113 Resurrection Ascension Titans Janna Valente
5195 Union Settlement Association Bridges Robotic Team Terrance Recille
5517 IS 119 Q TopGearz2 Chris Dudin
5618 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops 1 Richard Akalski
David Mabrey
Joshua Blum
5619 Louis Armstrong IS 227 Q Lamchops 2 (See 5618)
6029 IS 347 K R-L Unit Rosalinda Rubinstein
6292 Cambria Center Cambria Warbots Sheryl Liles


What you get to take home at a qualifier:
Every team gets a participation trophy so make sure you get yours.
Each child gets a participation ribbon.

Winning teams in all categories get trophies or plaques.
If you win one of these, that guarantees entry to the citywide at Riverbank on Jan. 26.

The top award Directors' Award winning team gets a medal for each member (no more than 10, please.)

The following awards will be given out at each tournament:

1. Directors Award
2. Robot Performance Award
3. Project Award
4. Teamwork Award
5. Robot Design Award
6. Judges' Award

The number of places for each award (i.e., 1st, 2nd, etc.) will be based on the planned size of the borough tournament such that the number of teams advancing from each tournament will be roughly proportional to the tournament's size. A total of 82 awards will be given out at the five borough tournaments, thereby qualifying up to 82 teams to compete at the New York City Championship. Judges will be using the standard judging criteria for each award as explained in the coaches' manual as well as outlined on the firstlegoleague.org webpage: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=29660



You are invited to view Brooklyn Tech's photo album:

Brooklyn FLL Qualifier
Brooklyn Tech -
Dec 8, 2007
by Brooklyn Tech

http://picasaweb.google.com/BrooklynFLL/BrooklynFLLQualifier


Gary Israel writes:
I want to thank Mark Gura, a very good friend of mine for taking some great photos last Saturday. Mark is one of the most highly regarded authority on Robotics in the country has a GREAT blog on robotics.
www.classroomrobotics.blogspot.com_A


http://picasaweb.google.com/markgura/BronxLeadershipLSOFIRSTLEGOLeagueQualifyingCompetitionPowerPuzzle12807?authkey=MFm7KeDTh_A

The slide show is at: http://www.classroomrobotics.blogspot.com/

News 12 story: http://www.news12.com/BX/topstories/article?id=204005#

For a calendar of tournaments and to register for your team's borough tournament, please see http://nycnjfirst.org/newsletter_fll.html. Also listed in sidebar of the blog.



Brooklyn Qualifying Tournament

The following 16 Award winners will be going on to Riverbank:

0447 PS 372 K Static Fanatics Rita Fasano Vicki Holland Haiva Albuliwi Research fourth place

0844 St. Edmund Elementary School Nerd Herd Christine Zaremba Performance Second Place

1435 Packer Collegiate Inst. Pack-a-Watt Maureen Reilly Research First Place

1472 PS 58 The Carroll School Black Hornets Keith Wynne Teamwork First Place

1475 PS 58 The Carroll School Black Heroes Keith Wynne Research Second Place

1654 PS 21K Crispus Attucks School Panthers Carla Arnold Director s Award

2070 PS 11K Behan Robots Rasheda Lyons Performance Third Place

2090 PS 261K The Energy Freaks Jennifer Lindauer-Thompson
Chris Peyser Scott Howard Teamwork Third Place

2880 Benjamin Banneker Academy K RoboWarriors Imani Fischer Robot Design First Place

3107 Bedford Academy BedBot Cluny Lavache Research Third Place

3628 IS 383 K Philippa Schuyler MS IS 383 Skybox Lindrick Outerbridge
William Hamlet Robot Design Second Place

4949 Brooklyn Tech HS Brooklyn Tech Knights Gordon Williams Performance Fourth Place

5090 PS 282 K RoboWarriors Aisha Marsh Teamwork Second Place

5100 MS 88 K Masterminds2 Andy Singh Judges Award

5101 MS 88 K Masterminds3 Andy Singh Performance First Place

5689 PS 81 K PS 81 RoboKids.com Bell Bishop Robot Design Third Place


Bronx
The following 24 Award winners will be going on to Riverbank:

0083 CS 66 X CS66 B.R.A.T.S Christopher Blades Judges Award

0196 PS/IS 123 X Eagles Chris Gooding Teamwork Third

0268 MS 101X Maritime Academy Maritime Warriors Michele Sikoryak Punit Gandhi Director s Award Second

0506 Pablo Casals MS 181x The Crusaders Terry Buchalter Research Third

0705 Globe School for Environmental Research GLOBE Masters Michael Joyce Paul Riter Paul Cassidy Barbara Hartnett Robot Performance Fourth

0707 Globe School for Environmental Research GLOBE Masters Michael Joyce Paul Riter Paul Cassidy Barbara Hartnett Robot Performance First

0845 MS 302 X MS302 Tech Squad Sharon Shoatz Research First

1634 ESMT IS 190 X Team X Maribeth Whitehouse Technical First

1673 PS 195X Molecules Zelma Torres-Rosado Director s Award Third

1822 MS 118 X Pacers Ralph Corvino Research Second

1911 PS 76X The Bennington School 76ers Russell Heath Teamwork First

2132 IS 98 X Ridder Kids Harold Smith Robot Performance Fifth

2154 PS 121 X Storm Throopers Kathy Bormann Maria Scher Technical Second

2201 MS 144 x Michaelangelo MS 144 GoBots Victoria Lowe Research

2269 PS 68 X PS 68 Mind Openers II Andrew Harrison
Barbara Tully Research Sixth

2284 HS of Computers & Technology X LEGO Devils Stan Bellis Technical Fourth

2349 PS 103 x LEGOBotic Beez Jarret Jackob Linda Marie Matos
Cathy Daly Judges Second

2350 PS 103 x LEGOBotic Beez Jarret Jackob Linda Marie Matos
Cathy Daly Performance Second

2415 Kezner Academy @IS 192 X Accelerators Jim Love and Nikki Havel Director's First

4084 Bronx Latin MS Architecti Eddie Branchaud Robot Performance Third

4785 PS 153 x Nanobots Mary Ann Milano Melissa Lonquich Michelle Andrews Technical Sixth

4815 Frederick Douglass Academy FDA LEGO Raiders Mary Hui
Danielle Nunez Joel Andrew Bianchi Richner Erisnor Andres Alonso Technical Third

4817 Frederick Douglass Academy FDA LEGO Junior Raiders Mary Hui Danielle Nunez Megan Wasserman, Henry Encarnacion, Alyssa Rosenbaum. Robot Performance Sixth

5148 PS 304X DragonBots Sandra Kamelgarn Research Fourth

5264 IS 174 X Microbots Esteban Vazuez Technical Fifth

5744 PS 108X 108 Teamwork Second


Compiled by Norm Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
normsco@gmail.com
917-992-3734

--
Have a good day

Norm

The Bronx Tournament from Ms. Frizzle

Great spirit on the part of the teacher and kids. Maybe we'll see them at Javits in April if that's a go.

Up at 6:30, met the kids around 8:30 in the Bronx… right after the opening ceremony, we were up for the research presentation. The kids went in discombobulated, unprepared, and nervous, and came out elated: It was perfect! They said they can’t wait to see our musical! Then it was directly to our first robot performance match, where we scored 24 points with the programs misloaded onto the RCX. I saw the scoreboard before our second match: we weren’t last - but only no-shows were below us. I decided that wasn’t the moment to point out the team rankings to the kids. Off to the technical presentation, again the kids came out feeling proud of their conversation with the judges. Coaches aren’t allowed into those events, but I’d love to have been a fly on the wall! Second match, zero points. I think we were DQ’d for a misunderstanding of the rules. Third match, after a breather and some adjustments to the robot (one of our motors had zonked out), sooo much better, 88 points, a bunch of missions completed although mostly by accident. The robot was overpowered and crashed into the walls and everything else, but we put some points up on the board! Fourth match, power level turned down and the two robot operators confident and with a revised plan, we completed five missions and scored 128 points and vaulted up to 23rd place (out of 42). This time I let the kids notice the scoreboard. We’re going to win!! We’re going to win!! Trying to be positive while still managing their expectations so I wouldn’t have tears after the awards ceremony… This is the best we’ve ever done and all the kids are having fun and staying engaged and cheering on their teammates. Fifth round, I don’t know what we scored but it was even better, six missions completed and nearly seven. We cleaned up our pit table and grabbed seats in the bleachers to watch the Lehman HS cheer team perform. Another teacher from school showed up and the kids mobbed him to tell him about their day. The announcer had us all do the chicken dance, the YMCA, and then invited all the kids down onto the gym floor for a 500-strong Cha-Cha Slide. Going into the awards ceremony, our kids were so sure they’d win something, it kind of broke my heart. I figured we had a small chance of a judges’ award, possibly teamwork, but that was about it… still, I was so proud of them because they’d learned a ton, worked hard, and stayed positive… so I told them that and crossed my fingers. The little boy next to me asked after every award how many were left (um, one fewer than the last time you asked…). I have to give them credit, they were really disappointed but didn’t sulk or make unpleasant comments about the winning teams. We talked about next steps, I asked who had a good day, every hand went up, and I sent them off to their weekends.

http://msfrizzle.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/and-today/

Bronx FLL Qualifying Tournament Slide Show

http://www.classroomrobotics.blogspot.com/

***** MEDIA ADVISORY: PLEASE COVER *******

PHOTO OP FOR QUEENS F.I.R.S.T. LEGO TOURNAMENT

WHO: TWENTY FOUR TEAMS FROM QUEENS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL

WHAT: QUEENS FIRST LEGO QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

WHEN: SATURDAY, DEC. 15TH, 2007 – 9:00AM OPENING CEREMONY, 2:00PM CLOSING/AWARDS CEREMONY

WHERE: AIRCRAFT HANGAR AT AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL – 35TH STREET BETWEEN QUEENS BLVD. AND 47TH AVE

THE QUEENS FLL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an exciting and fun global robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14. Our sponsors include American Express, Con Edison, David L. Klein, Jr. Foundation, Verizon, Independence Community Foundation, Aviation High School, the Quantum Samurai and the Aviation Education Corporation.
Each year FLL teams embark on an adventurous challenge based on current, real-world issues. Guided by a team coach and assisted by mentors, the kids:

• Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme
• Present their research and solutions
• Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts
• Experiment and overcome obstacles
• Build self-esteem and confidence
• Actively participate in science and technology

Everything is educational --- AND fun!!!

BACKGROUND: No matter what the child’s subject interest, FLL offers an opportunity for engagement. This year’s theme is energy conservation. Students confront issues such as how do personal energy choices to heat our homes, fuel our cars or even charge our cell phones impact the environment, economy, and life around the globe? Which resources should we use and why? Explore how energy production and consumption choices affect the planet and our quality of life today, tomorrow & for future generations.

For more information about the event, contact Michael Koumoullos at Aviation High School, 917-208-5629 or mike@koumoullos.com. For additional information go to www.nycnjfirst.org.

MEDIA ADVISORY - Aviation HS to host FIRST LEGO League Robotics

MEDIA ADVISORY: Aviation HS to host FIRST LEGO League Robotics Qualifier

Contact
Michael Koumoullos mike@koumoullos.com (917) 208-5629

PHOTO EDITORS: THE KIDS AND ROBOTS ARE MARVELOUSLY VISUAL

Aviation HS in Long Island City, to host junior FIRST LEGO League Queens qualifying tournament for 9-14-year-olds

25 teams of scientists, plus 75 volunteers to converge on Aviation HS for day of competition

This year’s theme encourages practical solutions for responsible energy use

Long Island City, NY –
Aviation High School will host the New York City FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Queens Qualifying Tournament for 9 to 14-year-olds this Saturday, December 15, 2007. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

The event will take place in the cafeteria and the unique aircraft hangar at the school.

Date: Saturday, December 15, 2007

Time: 8:30am - 3:00pm

Location: Aviation High School
45-30 36th Street (between Queens Blvd and 47th Ave.)
Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 361-2032

Directions: 7 train to 33 St.


Supported by the New York City FIRST LEGO League chapter, 25 teams of 9 to 14 year olds will come together for a day of competition. Qualifying teams will go one to compete in the FLL tournament at Riverbank State Park in Manhattan in on January 26. The winner of that competition will compete internationally in Atlanta in April.

The schedule for Saturday's qualifying tournament is as follows:

8:00 – 8:45 Registration

8:30 – 9:00 Judging (Judging continues after the opening ceremony and ends at the start of lunch)

9:00 – 9:15 Opening Ceremony

9:30 – 10:20 Round 1

10:20 – 10:30 Break

10:30 – 11:10 Round 2

11:10 – 11:30 Round 3

11:30 – 12:15 Lunch

12:15 – 12:40 Round 4

12:40 – 12:50 Break

12:50 – 1:40 Round 5

1:40 – 2:00 Break

2:00 – 2:40 Awards/ Closing Ceremony

2:40 – 3:30 Clean Up (We ask all teams to help stack the chairs and clean the pits.)

Google Group: fllqueens. Go to http://groups.google.com and search for fllqueens.


Unique to this event is the partnership between Pace University and Stuyvesant High School – and the fact that on the Pace NYC campus there will be students from all levels of schooling from first grade through graduate school working together to promote science and technology.

The FLL theme for this year is Power Puzzle, which is about understanding the elements of energy use in a world where people use more energy every day. The Power Puzzle missions get FLL teams to consider the energy choices available and how those choices affect the world. The teams are challenged to find practical solutions in their communities while considering the impacts their actions or inactions can have on their lives and the world. As they work to make the puzzle pieces fit, they must consider all parts of energy use, including how energy is made, stored, used and consumed, and how resulting waste is disposed of.

The FIRST organization was founded by inventor Dean Kamen to get children interested in and excited by technology. The FLL robotic competitions have become internationally recognized. A partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Company resulted in the formation of FIRST LEGO League (FLL) in 1998.

The pilot year had 200 teams participating. This year, nine years after the initial tournament, there are over 8000 teams internationally.

Directions: 7 train to 33 St.
Rawson St. Parking is available under the 7 train on Queens Blvd. It costs $4 for the day. You must pay with quarters so bring at least 16.

Why Run Tie-Breakers?

At the Manhattan tournament there was a first place tie and we held a runoff. One of the coaches questionned why we didn't just give out 2 first place trophies. NYC PC's Mark S, explains:

We have always followed this model at the citywide and that it was the fairest rather than taking a average of the two team's 4 rounds or take the total amount of points across the 4 rounds as a deciding factor. I explained to both coaches the reasoning behind the need to announce a clear 1st, 2nd, 3rd, place in robot performance as we need to have these distinct positions in order for the rankings and qualifications to work. In Manhattan, we had the top two scores be a tie (meaning a tie for 1st and a tie for 3rd) - there was no other way but to have another round in between the two top teams and the two teams below those to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd.