Beach Cities Robotics Team 294 Ready to Mentor New Teams

Beach Cities Robotics Team 294 is ready to mentor new teams from local public or private high schools who sign up to participate in FIRSTs (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology www.usfirst.org ) 2003 season. Event registration is open from October 1, 2002 through December 13, 2002.

Beach Cities Robotics Team 294 is ready to mentor new teams from local
public or private high schools who sign up to participate in FIRST's (For
Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology www.usfirst.org ) 2003
season. Event registration is open from October 1, 2002 through December
13, 2002.

The NASA grant applications for rookie teams are due by November 18, 2002.
NASA grants are $6,000 which covers registration plus $1,000 for the team.

Once registration is paid for, the team will receive an EduRobot Applied
Engineering and Robot Prototyping Kit (worth @ $1,500) to be able to build a
small robot prototype and learn, Learning Modules and Process (includes
downloadable learning modules, instructional videos, mini-challenges and a
pre-season challenge), a Mentor Guide (to assist the technical mentor or
teacher to facilitate and direct the learning process of that topic to the
students), Student Challenge Cards (activity sheets to help students predict
outcomes of the mini-challenge prior to constructing and testing the
experiments in order to get the students to start visualizing the
problem instead of by a trial and error method.), @$700 in Microsoft
software, @$10,000 in Autodesk software (to design their robot and animation
programs - a team can choose to submit a 3D animation for competition), and
a kit of parts to build the robot.

The rookie team would have to attend a local kick-off on January 4, 2003,
where they would learn about the 2003 competition. The team then has six
weeks to design, construct and test their robot before it has to be shipped
off. Teams then compete in a spirited, no-holds-barred tournament complete
with time clocks, referees and cheerleaders. The local regional competition
is free, April 4-5, 2003, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, and open
to the public. The national competition will be at Epcot Center in Florida
sometime during the month of May. These competitions are webcast by NASA,
and are on the NASA cable channel.

Many teams only "get together" during the six weeks after a kick-off. Beach
Cities Robotics Team 294 has a year-round program. Teams can be as small as
two people, or as large as Beach Cities Robotics with 40 student members.

A rookie team mentored by Beach Cities Robotics could work in their facility
and take advantage of their additional parts, materials and expertise
www.bcrobotics.org . Beach Cities Robotics is the only west coast team to
have won a national championship.

FIRST has become both strong and proud by differentiating itself from other
programs through its team members balancing competition and gracious
behavior. Teams treat each other respectfully without the slightest
compromise in competitive intensity. This dynamic tension has created a
culture that includes a place for MORE
everyone. Beach Cities Robotics is unusual in that two rival schools, MCHS
and RUHS, combine to compete regionally and nationally together in FIRST.

The team meets at RUHS Auto Shop, 620 Diamond St., Redondo Beach, three
times a week; 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sundays. Interested 9th - 12th graders attending MCHS or RUHS, parents, and
interested community can stop by to see what's going on. Call 310-944-9334
for more details.

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Photo opportunities are at all robotics meetings Tu 4-7p, Thu 4-7p, Sun 10a-4pm.

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