THE STORY OF CR’S FIRST LEGO ROBOTICS TEAMS

THE ROAD TO BANGALORE

IT ALL STARTED WITH A FEW LEGO BRICKS

AND THEN- A SUMMER CAMP LEGO WE DO PROGRAM

FOLLOWED BY THE KIT OF EVERY LEGO ROBOT BUILDER’S DREAMS-THE EV3!

When the India Stem Foundation agreed to sponsor not just one, but two CR teams, we were off and running.

PICKED 2 TEAMS

STARTED BUILDING

BUILT A PLAYING FIELD

AND LEARNED TO PROGRAM

NATURE’S FURY

• Each year, the First Lego League competition has a theme

• This year’s theme was Nature’s Fury

• Each team selected a natural disaster to research

• Our teams chose cyclones and floods-natural disasters common in our area

TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build and program a robot that could complete 20 challenges related to natural disasters-usually pushing, pulling and picking up and moving something

• Research chosen natural disaster

• Recommend solution to common problem related to that disaster

• Our teams presented their solutions through a play and a newscast

• One team recommended life jacket distribution to flood prone villages

ANOTHER TEAM RECOMMENDED FORMING A YOUTH ACTION COMMITTEE THAT WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN LIFE SAVING MEASURES IN TIME OF DISASTER.

Practice, practice and more practice.

FLEXIBILITY IS KEY

• At the last minute, the location of the competition changed from Chennai to Bangalore-OMG!

• Travel time increased from 2 to 8 hours-school buses are much slower than cars.

• We needed a place to stay overnight-a Bangalore shrine gave us a place to sleep and a great dinner.

Breakfast

Breakfast

The Bus Ride

Coach Arun

PRE-COMPETITION FUN

• FOR MOST OF THE TEAM, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME IN BANGALORE, FIRST TIME AWAY FROM HOME, FIRST TRIP TO A MALL!

• WE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF OUR FEW HOURS OF FREE TIME BY SEEING A 7D MOVIE, VISITING A HAUNTED HOUSE, AND EXPERIENCING AN ARCADE.

The Mall

COMPETITION DAYTHE INDUS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

IN THE BEGINNING

ONE LOOK AT THE INDUS SCHOOL CAMPUS AND OUR KIDS’ KNEW THEY WEREN’T IN ANILADY

ANYMORE

AS THEY SETTLED IN

• Their confidence continued to grow

• Their presentations went well

• Each robot run was better than the last time out

Here are the some of the selfless people who make CR a quality organization and who made participation in this competition possible:SURESH-engineering student,film maker, long-time CR intern, research and presentation coach.

KEY PLAYERS

Arun-Loyola college student, long-time CR intern,karate master, presentation coach.

Agni Bharathi-long time CR intern, B.Ed student, CR Director of special projects, Team coordinator.

Without the ongoing encouragement and support and Fr. Felix, Founding Director of CR India and Fr. Anand, Headmaster of Sacred Heart Higher secondary school-there would have been no lego teams and we never would have made it to Bangalore. Thank you for always being there when everyone needed you.

FR. FELIX AND FR. ANAND

Siva has been CR’s head computer teacher since we opened our doors 5 years ago. He is an outstanding teacher who loves both his subject and his students. Despite the fact that this was his first venture into Lego robotics, we had no doubt that he was the right person for the job. With Siva’s encouragement and guidance, kids who had never seen a Lego brick before, learned to build and program robots in record time.Thank you Siva-we couldn’t have made it without you!

ROBOTICS COACH: SIVA KUMAR

2013-14 COMMUNITIES RISING FLL LEGO ROBOTICS TEAMS

AFTERWORD

After we returned home from Bangalore, we all met to reflect on the experience. The students unanimously agreed that we should compete again next year. However, they had several suggested changes:

•Presentations should be in English-they thought they were at a disadvantage because they needed a translator. They actually requested spoken English classes;

•They would like team uniforms-they felt out of place wearing school uniforms when everyone else had competition outfits;

•They would start practicing now so they could learn more about programming and develop new robot designs-and they have actually been practicing every day since they returned.

But the most important takeaway, was expressed by one of the robot controllers who said, ”The most important thing I learned in Bangalore, was that we can compete with anyone. It doesn’t matter how rich they are or how big their robots are, we are just as good as they are.”

And that made it all worthwhile.

ADDITIONAL THANKS

• To the India Stem Foundation, for your generous support of our teams. Without your sponsorships and equipment donations, we could not have participated in this year’s competition.

• To the James Robinson family and Jacob Wenger, for your generous and timely contributions that gave us the financial support we needed to get started this year.

• To Joseph Aruldass, for your help on the American side of the pond.

• To Fr. Francis and Christopher, for traveling to Bangalore to support our teams. Every team needs cheerleaders.

• To the pastor and staff of the Infant Jesus Shrine in Bangalore, thank you for feeding and housing 25 people on short notice. Without your hospitality, we might have been forced to cancel the trip.

• To everyone who provided moral support and wished us well-many thanks.

See you all next year!