Join us at our open house for prospective team members!
September 20, 2022
Former LigerBots member Samy helps a student learn to solder.
The LigerBots will host an open house for prospective team members on Sept. 29, 2022, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the Tech Ed room at Newton South High School. All Newton North and Newton South students are invited. This exciting event will include an introductory presentation about the team and hands-on challenges in many of the skill areas that we learn on our team, like mechanical and electrical engineering, programming, driving robots, CAD (Computer Aided Design), marketing, graphics, photography, and public speaking. Masks are required at all LigerBots meetings.
The LigerBots at Newtonville Village Day!
A child catches a ball shot from the LigerBots 2022 robot, “Prometheus.”
On Sunday, September 18, the LigerBots attended Newtonville Village day on Walnut Street, an event featuring dozens of vendor booths, performers, and crafts from local talent and businesses. Our booth featured our 2022 robot, Prometheus, and multiple STEAM activities, such as our “binary bracelets” activity, in which children craft bracelets based on Morse code. Kids really enjoyed creating bracelets encoding their own special messages!
Charlotte and Eddie help children create bracelets using Morse code.
More outreach events are coming up soon! On October 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. we will be showing off our robot at RoboBoston, an event celebrating robotics, featuring companies such as Boston Dynamics and Vecna Robotics. And, on October 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., we will be hosting a booth at Newton Upper Falls Village Day. Come check us out!
Our open house for new members is happening on September 29, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the tech ed room at Newton South High School. New members will learn about the team and the FIRST Challenge through fun, hands-on activities! More information about the Open House is here.
This Sunday, September 18, from 12 to 4 p.m. is Newtonville Village Day on Walnut Street. Come check out our booth to drive our robot and have fun STEAM activities! You can find more information about the event here.
Welcome Back!
September 13, 2022
Albert and Ian work on the FTC Demobot.
This past Thursday, September 8, the LigerBots had our first meeting for returning members. This was the first official meeting led by this year’s new execs—we can’t wait to see how their leadership will shape our team moving forward!
Co-CTOs Kevin and Nate talk about the new name tag policy.
After the welcome presentation, LigerBots got right to work on our many preseason projects, such as repairing the 2020 and 2022 robots, continuing summer projects, and cleaning up our team storage areas. Marketing and graphics students worked on grant writing, recruitment efforts, and creating preseason graphics. A group of students made LigerBots buttons to give out to children at the upcoming Newtonville Village Day. Both technical and non-technical students have been preparing especially hard for the upcoming open house for prospective members, which will be on September 29 at Newton North.
Misaki and Julia discuss the elevator mechanism for a robot design as part of a summer project.
We’re delighted to have gotten off on such a productive start. We can’t wait to see what the new year will hold and hope you will stay with us to experience it!
As a reminder, this Sunday, September 18, from 12 to 4 p.m. is Newtonville Village Day on Walnut Street. Come check out our booth to drive our robot and have fun STEAM activities!
LigerBots march in Newton’s 2022 Memorial Day parade.
Welcome back! While we’re excited to leap into the new school year, let’s look back on what has been an incredible summer, packed with team-building activities, outreach events, and summer projects.
Even outside of build season, our students have stayed connected. On August 14, LigerBots went to Nahanton Park to go kayaking along the Charles River. LigerBots have also met up to have picnics, play cards, go trampolining, and even quiz each other on FRC fun facts!
LigerBots students have a thrilling race along the Charles River.
Besides having fun together, the LigerBots have also continued our efforts in community outreach. On May 29, we marched in Newton’s Memorial Day Parade to honor our veterans, while showing off our robot to excited onlookers.
LigerBots students proudly march in the 2022 Newton Memorial Day parade.
The Ligerbots ran a booth during Newton Highlands Village Day on June 12, where we showed off our robot and offered hands-on STEAM activities to passing families.
Sebastian helps a child safely return a ball to the intake of our robot.
And, on August 21, the LigerBots participated in Boston’s annual GreenFest, a large, three-day festival at the Rose Kennedy Greenway promoting sustainability and environmental equality. There, we displayed our robot and offered kids fun STEAM activities. Our binary beads bracelet-making activity, which teaches the binary alphabet and Morse code, was quite popular, as usual!
Charlotte helps a child create a binary bead bracelet.
More outreach is planned for the fall, including a booth at Newtonville Village Day on September 18, at Newton Upper Falls Village Day on October 2, and at the Newton Harvest Fair on October 16. So, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and FaceBook for more information.
A child picks up a ball after our robot shoots it during Boston GreenFest.
This summer has been an exciting time for many off-season technical initiatives. We created a new swerve drive, an extremely mobile (and complex) drivetrain in which the drive wheels can be independently steered in any direction.
CAD (Computer Aided Design) of the new swerve module.
In addition, a group of LigerBots has been developing an FTC “demobot,” a scaled-down version of the Mars Curiosity rover robot, using parts from the First Tech Challenge. Students are in the process of building the “rocker-bogie” suspension system—a design that allows traversal over obstacles while maintaining all wheels on the ground.
Various parts of the “demobot” suspension system.
LigerBots have also been updating our 2022 robot, Prometheus, for use at outreach events. We have designed a new shooter that launches balls at adjustable angles to allow for effortless use in future events.
A group of eager students, led by former CTO Jake, have been creating a prototype of an autonomous clean-up robot that we hope will one day enter the commercial market. This robot is intended to compact and dispose of litter while traversing complex terrain. Students are currently working through dozens of design iterations while experimenting with new materials and manufacturing techniques—all while closely documenting the process. We can’t wait to see how it will turn out!
Charlotte cuts down a wire brush as part of the clean-up robot.
Finally, the graphics group has been continuing the redesign, navigation overhaul, and general usability improvement of our website. Graphics students have wrapped up the new, modernized design and are ready to kickstart the coding of the website theme. We can’t wait to show you once we’re ready! If you are an adult who specializes in website development, the LigerBots is currently looking for a mentor to aid us during this process. Please contact graphics mentor Diane Levy at [email protected] if you are interested.
Given all that we’ve done this summer, we’re amped to go into the new school year strong! Our first meeting for returning team members is Thursday, September 8, 6:30 p.m., at Newton South High School. For prospective members from South, be sure to catch us at the South club fair on September 13. The North club fair will take place in the week of September 12 (exact date to be determined.) Our team open house for new members is September 29 at Newton South. More information about the club fair and open house will be coming soon, so be on the lookout.
