The LigerBots sweatshirts are ready! If you ordered one, contact Coach Diane on Slack to arrange for pickup.

On Friday, June 16, the LigerBots attended Robotica, an annual conference put on by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The LigerBots presented their 2016 competition robot alongside robots from major companies like Harmonic Drive, NASA and Elmo Motion Control. LigerBots team members also held informal demo sessions to groups of students from local vocational high schools who were attending the event. The students learned about the team and the specifics of the robots and some of them even got to drive the robot.

LigerBots CTO Erik talks about the LigerBots to vocational high school attendees at Robotica

The team ran a station in Newton Centre on Sunday for the Tour de Newton, a community biking event. This event takes cyclists and their families on an exploration of the 13 villages in Newton, stopping at a point of interest in each village to learn about Newton. The LigerBots gave cyclists at Newton Centre a chance to see our 2017 competition robot in action and learn about the team!

Cyclists from the Tour de Newton stop at the LigerBots’ Newton Centre station and collect the button they get at each stop on the route

The past week has been a busy one for the LigerBots! At team meetings on Monday and Thursday, the team continued to prep the robot for the upcoming Beantown Blitz competition, to be held at Revere High School on June 24 and to work on team planning for the fall.

This week, Gideon and Erik went with our 2016 robot to the opening reception of the annual Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) conference at the Newton Marriott Hotel. The team went to promote STEM education to business leaders that are affiliated with ECIA. The attendees enjoyed shooting and catching the ball from our 2016 robot and talking about the LigerBots and FIRST with our team members. The opening remarks at the conference included a shout out to FIRST, which includes ECIA as a sponsor, and to the LigerBots.

Earlier in the week, The LigerBots ran a team Intro Night so that prospective members could see different team activities in action. Among other activities, the prospective members used our industrial mill to machine a part, programed LEDs, participated in LEGO tower contests, and practiced constructing a business pitch. We hope they will all come back in the fall to join the team!

For those students coming to tonight’s Intro Night, please wear closed toed shoes for safety, as some of the activities will be in the shop.

Two team members, Arnav and Cameron, spoke at an EdTech Conference at the MIT Sloan School of Management on Wednesday. They were invited to speak on a panel along with a volunteer for FIRST Global about their experiences on the team and how they’ve used technology to advance their learning.

Cameron and Arnav waiting to speak at the MIT EdTech conference

City Councillor and Newton mayoral candidate Ruthanne Fuller was given a tour of our team meeting space this week. LigerBots leadership explained the team’s important role in creating Newton STEM opportunities and we advocated for better government support of the team.

CTO Cameron and business group member Javid talk to Newton city councillor Ruthanne Fuller at a team meeting

Last Thursday the entire team got together for our annual Awards Night held at Newton South. The team recognized sponsors, students, and mentors with various awards such as rookie all-star, given to the most dedicated first year team member. The night began with a delicious potluck dinner provided by the parents on the team.

The LigerBots gather for our annual awards night in the Newton South High School cafeteria