Robotics Clinics

This summer in Portland, Oregon, the Nanites are hosting "Robotics Clinics" in order to help kids with understanding more concepts in programming, including the use of:

• Variables
• My Blocks
• and Calibration

Located at Intel, the clinics will be comprised of kids working on their own robots, with help of the Nanites in implementing new ideas into their already existing programs. More info can be found on the flyer, located here.

Nanites' World Fest Photos

World Festival Pictures are now posted.  Click here http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/content.aspx?id=766  to view them!

 

There are several photos for the Nanites. Here are the direct links:

 

1. The Nanites received the FIRST place programming award - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnewendorp/4552875795/in/set-72157623933369190/

2. Do you know Ethan sings? http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnewendorp/4553535734/in/set-72157623808633955/

3. Vicki rally the crowd. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnewendorp/4553550722/in/set-72157623808633955/

4. Danny can be nervous, sometimes. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnewendorp/4553549664/in/set-72157623808633955/

5. Who is this girl? http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnewendorp/4552934389/in/set-72157623808633955/

 

Kingsum

One week left...

Just one week left until the World Festival!

Our whole team is just hyped up with excitement... but with all that excitement, we still have so much work left to do. There are posters to finish, adjustments on our robot to be made, rehearsals for presentations, and even just packing up everything securely.

But for some good news, 2 team members presented projects at the Northwest Science Expo (NWSE). Ethan Takla recieved 2nd place in Engineering, and Ida Chow recieved a honorable mention in the same category. This event happened last Friday at the Peter W. Stott Center at Portland State University. One project ("Sandwiching The Line") on following lines and how factors of a robot can effect the line following can be found here.

As of now, we're still doing last minute changes, working hard, and freaking out. We're working on shipping items we have to ship, making sure everything is done, and sometimes it's a tad stressful, but its been a great year. :)

Grand Challenge Nomination Submitted!

This year was the kick off of the Grand Challenge Story Nomination contest, which is a contest in which you can submit a story that shows how your research has impacted something that will make a difference.

One of our coaches, Kim, nominated us for the Grand Challenge, and our nomination can be found here, as the 97th nomination in the contest:

The Transportation of Medication and Information during Emergency Situations

Also, right before the Atlanta World Festival is the FIRST World Conference, and recently we have been notified that our abstract for our presentation has been accepted, so we will also be presenting at the conference on April 14th 2010. :)

New Blog Layout

About a week ago, I added a banner to this blog and moved around a few things, and played around with the code. So now here's the new version of our website, hopefully more interesting to people than the previous layout that we had. :)

I'm think about maybe changing the colors to black and gold and white later, but right now I'm feeling lazy... so I hope you guys like it!

- Ida

Looking for tips to build robots?

A collection of tips can be found on the right side, under FIRST Lego League.

There are links to line following algorithms and some presentations made by our team members.

There are also external links to general lego robot construction, and other tips as well.

If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please drop us a comment right here.

Thanks, Kingsum

Reminder: week 1 of acmqueue's Online Programming Challenge

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Matt Slaybaugh <slaybaugh@hq.acm.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Subject: [qupdates] Reminder: week 1 of acmqueue's Online Programming Challenge
To: qupdates@acm.org

acmqueue Launches Online ICPC Programming Challenge for All Readers
http://queue.acm.org/icpc/index.cfm

On January 11, 2010, acmqueue launched an online programming competition
based on the 2009 ACM International Collegiate Programming Competition
(ICPC) Challenge.
http://cm.baylor.edu/welcome.icpc

The Queue ICPC Challenge applies the rules used in the ACM ICPC Challenge,
however the Queue competition is open to all acmqueue readers and not just
university students.

The 2010 Queue ICPC Challenge problem is a simple game called Capture.
Participants code "players" in C++, C# or Java, and then submit them to
compete in a tournament with other players.

In the past week we've had over 300 people register and now have 30 active
players.

The challenge closes February 7 so there's still plenty of time to submit
your code and participate in our nightly matches.

For more information on how to participate, go to the Queue ICPC Challenge page.
http://queue.acm.org/icpc/

The Nanites are back.

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon.

Want to win a contest without answering a single question?

Yes, you can do that. You need to pose a simple and interesting question about molecules.

FIRST Teams Sought to Participate in Nobel-Prize-Winners Contest

The Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize: Deadline: May 6

http://www.molecularfrontiers.org/pages/programs/molecularfrontiersprize.php

One of the great things about the size and quality of FIRST is that it is draws attention from many other groups. One of these groups, who attended this year's Championship and was particularly impressed, was the sponsor of The Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize.

Take their online challenge – which is to pose a simple and interesting question about molecules – and see if you can win one of 10 iPods. Among the Judges who pick the winners are selected Nobel Prize winners.

The contest is for students under the age of 17. Compete by submitting a creative question about molecules and explaining why your question is important. Ten student winners will receive an iPod, a medal, and an invitation to attend a symposium at which the Nobel Prize winners will be in attendance.

2009 FIRST Championship Results

The 2009 FIRST Championship took place April 16-18 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Over 500 robots competed on six fields while teams met and worked in the pits in this celebration of everything that makes FIRST unique!

Results can be found here: http://www.usfirst.org/who/content.aspx?id=4190