On Saturday, November 2, the LigerBots brought a Pumpkin Smasher for a fun event at City Hall.
A community tradition is held on the first Saturday after Halloween each year, where community members are invited to donate leftover Halloween items and smash leftover pumpkins. The pumpkins are then composted and recycled after the event has ended.

The pumpkin-smashing mechanism, designed and engineered exclusively by the LigerBots, features a wooden guillotine-like structure that adds a thrilling twist to the event.
Hundreds of community members showed up to donate their leftover pumpkins, and enjoyed the excitement of watching them get smashed! After each smash, the pumpkin remains are collected into a large compost pile, creating a uniquely satisfying sight for all spectators.
Alongside the pumpkin smashing, the LigerBots hosted three interactive STEAM activities: Skeleton Handprint, Binary Beads, and Slime. At these stations, students create binary bracelets, make slime, and design a creative X-ray handprint, while discovering the unique STEAM concepts behind each activity!

During the event, the LigerBots engaged with parents and students, sharing insights about our team and introducing FLL (First Lego League), a youth robotics league that offers a great starting point for younger kids interested in robotics.
Parents were also excited to learn about our upcoming FLL Qualifiers and Championships in the coming weeks, with the FLL Championship featuring a STEAM Expo packed with dozens of activities beyond those presented here!

When asked, the event managers reported that the event was an overwhelming success!
“The event was well staffed, and everybody got an opportunity to do what they wanted.” – Student Organizer, Abby Z.
“It was a really cool project, and I think the kids were really entertained by it” – Student Organizer, Sarah H.

On October 26th, the LigerBots competed in RiverRage, a pre-season competition. We were glad to be the first pick for the second alliance with our 2024 robot!

During Riverrage we overcame many challenges as a team. We also worked together to fix the robot and successfully manage the problems.

Overall our team members were satisfied with the last performance of our 2024 robot before we disassembled parts for our fall training.
“We did pretty well”, said Wes H, Co-CTO of LigerBots, “I’m pretty happy with how we did; it was a fun event.”

There were 8 first-years overall who gained experience by participating in the Drive team and Pit crew. Rookies on Pit crew gained technical knowledge while working on the robot, while rookies on the Drive team acquired competition knowledge.

As always, this was a thrilling event with much learning involved. We look forward to more events in the future! Some of our upcoming competitions are fast approaching; FLL Championship, STEAM Fair and Robot Zoo on Saturday, December 14th at Newton North. More info to come!

On September 30, 2024, dozens of eager future engineers came to Newton South High for an opportunity to learn about LigerBots—for many of them, a first time experience.

Rookies and Veterans alike were listening to the intro presentation as the coaches explained the LigerBots’ goals for the year. Many new students had the opportunity to learn about strategies we used for past competitions.

One of the rookies driving the robot was very surprised while testing the controls, as it was more difficult than most people would have imagined, while rookies waited in line for their turn on the robot.

One of our stations had rookies make a bridge out of legos and test how much weight it could hold. Engineering skills on LigerBots are made from the day students join.

At one station, rookies could do Binary Beads, one of our most used outreach activities which involves spelling out initials in binary. This activity mirrors real computer language and makes it a fun STEAM-related activity while being relatively simple.
We are glad to see so many show interest in joining the LigerBots and we hope to see many of them at our next meeting!

On October 20th, the LigerBots attended the Green Expo, which is part of Harvest Fest, an annual community event in Newton Center. With over 100 businesses, vendors and organizations showcasing a wide variety of goods and services, the event attracted thousands of people!

This event was a great way to connect with kids and adults from Newton and surrounding towns; and to promote a love for STEAM and possibly a future on the LigerBots team!

We had many visitors throughout the day who enjoyed our STEAM activities which included making slime, creating a skeleton hand and folding an origami flexagon.

As usual, the 2024 robot was the main attraction. We had a lot of fun showing it off to parents and kids of all ages and had lots of great conversations!

Save the date for the FLL Championship AND STEAM Expo on Saturday, December 14th at Newton North High School!

Free, hands-on activities for kids will be offered by 27 local organizations at the LigerBots STEAM Expo, Sat., Dec. 14, 10–3 at Newton North High School! The expo accompanies the Massachusetts-East  FIRST LEGO League Championship, hosted by the LigerBots. Come watch the tournament! Bring Drive a robot and climb on a fire truck! For more information visit  https://ligerbots.org/fll. To sign up to exhibit or to see the list of exhibitors visit  https://ligerbots.org/steam-expo.