This week, the LigerBots had a special guest: city councillor Amy Mah Sangiolo, who is currently running for mayor of Newton. On Monday, she came to visit during a team meeting, where the LigerBots gave her an introduction to the team. We explained to the city councillor what the team is, what activities we do (including FIRST SteamWorks), and how our robot works. Councillor Sangiolo expressed support for the LigerBots and FIRST Robotics.

A LigerBot discusses the robot with Councillor Sangiolo

Last weekend, we demonstrated our 2016 robot at the Newton Festival of the Arts on the Newton Centre Green. Once again, we attracted a large crowd of children who were excited to be able to drive our robot. We also handed out flyers for the FLL Info Night the LigerBots will run at 7:00 p.m. on May 30 at Newton North High School for students in grades K-8 and their parents.

LigerBots help a child drive our 2016 robot

The postseason competition BattleCry is approaching this weekend, and the team is hard at work making sure our robot is in top shape. Among the recent adjustments we have made are the addition of pneumatic pistons and the removal of the front plate. This should make it easier to pick up and place the large, plastic gears used in the SteamWorks game without them getting stuck in the front plate.

BattleCry is coming up quickly, and the LigerBots are hard at work in the shop, improving our robot. We have begun meeting more frequently in the postseason to make our robot as fit as possible for this offseason competition. Our main focus is fine-tuning the robot’s gear-placing mechanism to make it more effective. We have moved the whole mechanism almost five inches lower, and we are also testing out different ways to hold the gear in. To prevent the gear from catching on the front plate while being placed we’ve created a design involving two pistons that hold the gear in place, then open up when the gear is ready to be placed on the peg.

LigerBot works on gear mechanism improvements to the 2017 robot

BattleCry will take place at Worcester polytechnic Institute on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21. Admission is free for spectators, and a webcast will be available on the BattleCry website.

The team has selected members to hold executive positions for the next year. Ian is our new Chief Operating Officer (COO), Cameron is our new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Douglas is our new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

2017/18 LigerBots CTO Cameron

2017/18 LigerBots CMO Douglas

2017/18 LigerBots COO Ian

The LigerBots will be competing at the postseason tournament BattleCry, at WPI, on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21. BattleCry provides FIRST teams one more chance to bring their robots out on the field and compete. Admission is free for spectators, and a webcast will be available on the BattleCry website.

https://www.wpi.edu/news/calendar/events/battlecry

During spring break, LigerBots members attended three marches for science in three different cities across the country. At the Boston march, LigerBots joined the massive crowd on the Boston Common to listen to speeches made by students who read their contest-winning essays, and some by adults in various science fields. One LigerBot attended the march in Seattle, and reported that there were inspiring speakers, lots of funny signs, and a huge number of people present. Another LigerBot went to the march in Washington D.C., where he listened to two hours of speeches outside the National Museum of African American History and Culture, then walked to Constitution Avenue to march towards the Capitol Building.

The LigerBots show off their sign at the march in Boston

LigerBots at the march in D.C.

Also during spring break, we demonstrated our 2016 robot at the week-long, annual Cambridge Science Festival. There were many children at this family event, and many of them stood in a long line to drive our robot. The LigerBots were happy to see children showing an interest in STEM. We also explained to the audience what the LigerBots do, and distributed info about FLL to anyone who was interested.

LigerBots help a child drive our 2016 robot

This kid has got this whole robot thing figured out

Last Saturday, the LigerBots volunteered at the FIRST New England District Championship at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham. Although the LigerBots did not qualify to compete with our robot at the NE Championship, we set out to continue our involvement in the FIRST community by assisting in running the event.

Our role was to reset the field in between matches. During matches, the robots released large amounts of wiffle balls from hoppers, and the volunteers helped pick up all the balls and refill the hoppers. The LigerBots had a great time watching teams from all over New England compete, and we were very glad to be able to give back to FIRST. We also enjoyed going out for ice cream during our lunch break!