As a student, I was a member of Team Eaglestrike in Los Altos all through high school, mentored the Citrus Circuits, a team from Davis, all four years of college, and even mentored at team in Colorado for the few months I was there. I love mentoring students in robotics and seeing them come alive as they utilize there unique, creative talents in this intense design competition.
This year, the game involves shooting foam basketballs into hoops on either side of the field. Additionally, at the end of the game, robots must balance on "bridges" in the middle of the field for bonus points. Here's a quick video describing the game, Rebound Rumble!
The team I've been working with, Team 1662, decided to attempt to shoot 3 point baskets and balance the bridge at the end of the match. After an intense 6 weeks of building, 30 hours a week, Monday through Saturday (we got Sunday off), the students came up with this machine, confusingly named "Boing-Bot"
And the best part, it works! Here is Boing-Bot performing a completely autonomous routine at a scrimmage a few weeks ago!
So that's the robot that's sitting in a shipping crate somewhere in Israel right now. Myself and the rest of the team (12 students and 2 other adults) are flying out Thursday morning to go meet Boing-Bot there! We'll be setting up the field in the Nokia Arena in Tel-Aviv this Saturday, and then competing with 45 Israeli teams Sunday through Tuesday. After the competition, we'll be touring around the country, going to historically significant places such as Galilee and Jerusalem!
I couldn't have imagined a year ago about to fly to Israel to mentor student in robotics and disciple them in their relationships with Christ, but here I am. Depending on my access to the inter-webs, I'll hopefully be updating this blog regularly from the other side of the Atlantic, so look for updates soon! Thanks for reading!
-Mike
The team I've been working with, Team 1662, decided to attempt to shoot 3 point baskets and balance the bridge at the end of the match. After an intense 6 weeks of building, 30 hours a week, Monday through Saturday (we got Sunday off), the students came up with this machine, confusingly named "Boing-Bot"
And the best part, it works! Here is Boing-Bot performing a completely autonomous routine at a scrimmage a few weeks ago!
So that's the robot that's sitting in a shipping crate somewhere in Israel right now. Myself and the rest of the team (12 students and 2 other adults) are flying out Thursday morning to go meet Boing-Bot there! We'll be setting up the field in the Nokia Arena in Tel-Aviv this Saturday, and then competing with 45 Israeli teams Sunday through Tuesday. After the competition, we'll be touring around the country, going to historically significant places such as Galilee and Jerusalem!
I couldn't have imagined a year ago about to fly to Israel to mentor student in robotics and disciple them in their relationships with Christ, but here I am. Depending on my access to the inter-webs, I'll hopefully be updating this blog regularly from the other side of the Atlantic, so look for updates soon! Thanks for reading!
-Mike
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