Robotics Team on Display at Royal United Mortgage LLC
The TechnoKats Robotics Team would like to thank Royal United Mortgage LLC for sponsoring our team this year. The TechnoKats are part of FIRST Robotics (usfirst.org), which offers robotics programs for students in grades 2-12 in 39 countries.
Each January, a new FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) game is released. Teams then have six weeks to design, build, wire, and program a robot that can play the game. Teams compete at district and regional events during March and April, culminating with the World Championships, which were held in St. Louis this year. Students learn engineering skills and industry standards as they work side by side with adult mentors from businesses in engineering fields. TechnoKats mentors work for businesses including Delphi, Foresite, and AndyMark. Students also design websites, write press releases, develop business plans, maintain budgets, create presentations, and market the team. The TechnoKats have been a FIRST team since the program began in 1992. During that time, more than 85% of our alumni have gone on to careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. All ten of the TechnoKats’ 2015 graduates went on to degree programs in either STEM or business fields – all using the skills they learned on the team.
On Friday, July 8th some team members and mentors from the TechnoKats visited the Royal United Mortgage LLC offices in Indianapolis to demonstrate our 2016 robot, which played the game “FIRST Stronghold”. In this game, the robot “stormed a castle” by crossing defenses in the middle of the basketball-court-sized field, and tossing balls into baskets at the top of a castle wall. Royal United Mortgage LLC employees had the opportunity to drive the robot and throw balls into baskets. It’s not easy! During the competition season, the four-member drive team spends 15-20 hours per week practicing for the competition tournaments.
This summer, for the first time, the TechnoKats hosted a Summer Robotics Camp for middle school students, thanks to sponsorship funds from Royal United Mortgage LLC. Middle school students learned about the engineering process and applied the steps to building pinewood derby cars, mag-lev cars, and small robot. They also learned about the Mars Rovers and other real-world robots, safety skills and standards, and a variety of science and technology concepts. TechnoKats students worked with mentors to plan and run the camp. It was a great learning experience, and the TechnoKats appreciate Royal United Mortgage LLC’s sponsorship of the program!
If you’d like to learn more about the TechnoKats or how you can get involved, contact Kati Taylor, or email Joy Dewing at [email protected]. You can also support the team by purchasing a limited edition 25th Season t-shirt (with Royal United Mortgage LLC’s logo) for $20 (sizes S-XL available). All proceeds from t-shirt sales support the team’s fund to purchase STEM-related books for the elementary school libraries. Contact Kati or Joy to purchase a team shirt.
Written by: Dr. Joy Dewing, Teacher & TechnoKats Coach at Kokomo High School
Publish Date: 08/23/2016
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http://www.technokats.org/our-sponsors/
http://www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission
