Bret Harte Open House - May 8, 2019

We reached out to Mrs. McCurley (an engineering teacher at Bret Harte Middle School) who allowed us to use her classroom to talk to her students about FIRST robotics. After arriving at her classroom and setting up the desks, we gave a short presentation about FIRST and the different programs it offers. We showed the attendees the previous year’s game and our robot, to show how we designed our mechanisms to solve the challenges. We let the students drive the robot to see first hand how the robot functions. We also drove around Hachi, our robot from the Velocity Vortex season, now repurposed as our demo bot that shot candy in the air, to show the kids the interesting and uniques robots they could make. We talked to all of the parents and students about FIRST, and how they could get involved. Also, we provided a signup sheet for those who were interested in joining our team and wanted to try out over the summer.

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Intro to Python - Aug. 31, 2019

We held this workshop at our local library to demonstrate to students who wanted to learn the basics of python. When the students came, we first gave a presentation explaining what programming was and how it is implemented in everyday life. After, we helped them set up Google Collaboratories, a new programming software, so they could save all of their programming to their computers. We taught them the basics of the program starting from variables, and moving on to cover everything from for/while loops to if/else statements. At the end, we asked the students to utilize what they have learned to make a Pyg Latin translator and a prime number generator. There were some students that had some prior knowledge of programming so they were able to finish the challenges a little aster. For these students, we encouraged them to create their own projects (including a chatbox) and helped them along the way. 

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Kickoff Workshop - Sept. 7, 2019

During the season kickoff event at Daly City, our team hosted a programming workshop. The majority of the attendees were rookie teams, who came to our workshop to lean how to properly use Android Studios and the basics of coding both autonomous and teleOP programs. We had three sessions and during each of these sessions, we went over the material to different representatives from many different teams. We first taught them how to download and use Android studio. After a majority of them were able to do so, we taught them how to set up the phones on their robots for competition. With Alex leading the workshop and Madeleine, Aroshi, and Ethan helping those that were struggling we were able to cover a lot of material. After that, we explained to them what OpModes are and how they can use it. We had a question and answer session at the end to address any lingering problems that they had.

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Make A Game - Sept. 14, 2019

In this workshop, we taught the students how to use Scratch to make their very own game. We first helped the students create their own Scratch accounts on their laptops. We went through the UI of Scratch and the purpose of each block. We also taught them how to use the costume tab and showed them how they could import images off the internet and make them into characters in their program. Scratch is fairly simple, since it is block based, and none of the children had to memorise any syntax. At the end, we asked them to make a game of Pong. All of the students were able to finish their game and had a few minutes to play around with it. Most of the students that finished making the Pong game early went a step further and added their own customizations to the game. One of the students was even able to make a two player Pong game, and play with the other children at the workshop. Before the kids left, we recapped what they had learned throughout the day, and showed them some other interesting features Scratch has to offer, including making their own blocks that can conform to their code. 

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Almaden Art and Wine Festival - Sept. 15, 2019

During the festival, there were many families from our community exploring the different booths and activities. We had a stand of our own with our sister team, FRC 604. We spoke to the families about the basics of FIRST and we encouraged them to look into the various programs in the future. To generate more excitement, we used our robot from previous years to show them exactly what we did. In addition to showing them our robot, we also had a paper airplane activity where we had kids of all ages try to make the best paper airplane they could. We gave the kids advice on different techniques to make the airplane go further, and how they could improve the ones they made.

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Tesla Demo - Sept. 17, 2019

Partnering with FIRST, we went to the Tesla headquarters with some other FRC teams, we were able to interact with many of the employees working at Tesla. We first demonstrated our robot from the previous season, Pyxis, to Tesla engineers. We were able to set up a booth at the Tesla office, showcasing our robot and different posters we had created about our outreach and mechanical design. Many Tesla employees stopped by our table and we were able to talk with them about FTC robotics. We also told them about different volunteering opportunities they can participate in, such as mentoring a FIRST team or volunteering to help out during tournaments. We also showed the employees a video of the challenge for this season. This gave them a rough idea of what we do in FTC and other FIRST programs. We also had brochures to pass out to the adults who were interested in FIRST.

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Think Like A Programmer - Sept. 21, 2019

This is the third workshop that we have done with the library this season. The main goal of this workshop was to allow younger students to think in the mindset of a programmer, while still having fun. We began with a drawing activity, to familiarize students with the concepts of the linear execution of code, variables, and debugging. The students used made-up functions, commanding Madeleine (the “robot”) to pick up and put down the pen, and to draw lines of specified length or circles of specified size. They learned about the linear execution of code, and “debugged” their code by inserting breaks to isolate and correct errors. Once they got the hang of those concepts, we moved on to the next challenge. In this, Madeleine traversed a small maze made out of desks and chairs. This was to teach the concepts of creating loops and calling functions. The students were only given a function to turn right, and had to write their own left turn function to call later. Additionally, they used loops when walking longer straightaways.

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Unit Test Workshop - Sept. 27, 2019

We wanted to find a more efficient way to debug and revise our code. We reached out to one of our mentors who used to work in the programming field and set up a meeting with him to learn about the different methods of debugging code. He prepared a presentation for us and demonstrated, 1) how unit testing can be implemented,  and 2) where and when such a testing would be useful. After the presentation, we asked him questions about the specifics, best practices for, and effectiveness of unit testing. 

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Screamage Bootcamp - Oct. 27, 2019

In order to help out rookie teams in our area, we worked with Playing at Learning to set up a boot camp at the Play Space. We had tables laid out for teams to work on both mechanical and programming. Our members helped them come up with designs for mechanisms to help solve elements of the game. One of the teams required help with their drive base and we gave them advice on how to make their drive base more robust, while other teams needed help on their score mechanisms and we helped them come up with ideas on how to make their score mechanisms more efficient. For the teams that needed help with programming, we were able to give some advice to those teams on how to make a more efficient autonomous and intuitive drive control. 

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Zoox Tour - Oct. 29, 2019

We contacted Zoox, a local company that develops self-driving cars, and received a tour of their facilities through our school’s assistant principal of guidance, Mrs. Chu. We first sat down for a presentation to learn about autonomous driving and learned about the different levels of autonomy. Next, they gave us a tour of their machining facility and showed us various machine tools including Bethany, their CNC machine, and their various 3D printers. Lastly, we sat down with the engineers who worked at Zoox and asked them questions about their roles in the company and what those roles entail. We also talked about the computer vision problems that we faced with our robot and found out that they encounter similar type of problems relating to odometry and encoders. Additionally we discussed and asked questions about the swerve drive that they build from ground up.

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Postmates X Tour - Nov. 5, 2019

We received this tour through Anahita, who reached out to Postmates X’s head of robotics, Ali Kashani. We were given a tour of their facilities and were shown their various  machinery tools. We not only got the chance to see the projects that they were working on but also got the opportunity to interact with the mechanical and programming engineers working in the industry. We were able to talk to and ask questions to many of these experts. During the tour, we were able to see their project, a food-delivery robot called Serve. We were able to drive Serve around the Postmates office, and we learned they use C++ for their control system (quick controls). We then were able to see Serve’s evolution over time, early prototypes, and how they got to the Serve they have today. At the conclusion of the tour, we were given a chance to sit down with four Postmates employees and we asked them about them about their jobs and their operation. After the tour, we were able to give a short presentation on FIRST and answer some of the questions the engineers had about FIRST.

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Quixilver Qualifier - Nov. 16, 2019

Quixilver Qualifier is an official Qualifying Tournament for FLL, hosted at Leland High School. Along with our sister team, FRC Team 604 Quixilver, we worked to set up and run the tournament to ensure it ran smoothly without any issues. There were several duties to be fulfilled, including Practice Table Coordinator, Practice Table Assistant, Pit Security, Field Resetter, Field Timer, and Emcee. We helped facilitate practice sessions at the Practice Table, ensuring that each team got maximum 5 minutes for spot. We also aided the processes at the competition field including setting up the missions and commentated on the matches. In the spirit of FIRST, our member who was the Emcee, encouraged each team to have their own chant which is not generally seen at tournaments. 

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Fogarty Company Tour - Dec. 19, 2019

We met at the Fogarty Institute facility to see over 10 startup companies with their unique ideas like gloves that remove sweat and a handheld device that detects if one has cancer. The tour gave students the chance to ask many questions with professional insight from working engineers, ranging from computer to mechanical to chemical engineers. We were able to see 3D printers, CAD software, foam cutouts, and minimal viable products to give us a taste of what engineering entails in real life. At the end of the tour, we met in a boardroom where we had the chance to talk to Doctor Fogarty himself. At the talk, we even got the chance to talk about FTC and FIRST.

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TinkerCAD Workshop - Jan. 6, 2020

Our goal during this workshop was to have each student walking out of the class knowing how to use CAD, knowing the fundamentals of constructing a 3D object, and being able to apply transformations to the object. We helped everyone create their own Tinkercad account so that they would be able to play with their own CADs in their free time. Not everyone understood what CADing was so we had a presentation at the start of the workshop to get everyone familiar with the concept of CADing. After this, we started from the basics and showed how the kids could make basic 3D shapes such as cubes, spheres, and cylinders. Next, we showed them how they could make more custom shapes by cutting out portions of the shapes given. All the kids were able to create a part that that they wanted to create on their own and learned how they could explore what other people have made on TinkerCad.

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8th Grade Info Night - Jan. 16, 2020

With our sister FRC team, Quixilver 604, we introduced the incoming ninth grade class to the FIRST programs Leland has to offer. We talked about the similarities and differences of each team and answered their questions about our team’s season, funding, control systems, and tryout process. We also encouraged families to sign up for our mailing list so that they could get information about our workshops and tryouts. Since the gym was crowded with many students and parents walking around to talk to the various booths that Leland had to offer, we were not able to drive this season’s robot, Kumo. However, we were able to showcase it to incoming freshman and their parents. We showed them how our intake, arm, and lift system operate. We also talked to them about FIRST, volunteering opportunities for the adults, and how their younger siblings can get involved in FLL and/or FLL Jr.

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Applied Materials Tour - Feb. 21, 2020

We have sponsorships from Applied Materials, a leading company in their field, which specializes in creating and programming machines that are used by other companies to manufacture silicon chips. We were able to get an opportunity to tour their facility and give a presentation to Jeff Hudgens, the Director of Robotics at Applied Materials, and employees of his division. In our presentation we showed the employees a video of one of our Qualification Competition matches, and told them about the mechanical and programming processes that we take to develop our robot. After our presentation, we had a discussion with the employees about how the challenges that we face in FTC relates to the real-world problems that arise in an industrial setting. Lastly, they took us on a tour in which we got to see some of the robots that they build. For example, we got to see robotic arms transfer silicon wafers and pressure chambers that process them.

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Tech Challenge Mentoring - March 1, 2020

A local team of middle school students who are competing in the Tech Challenge, an engineering competition from Dell Technologies and the Tech Interactive, reached out to us looking for mentorship. We gladly agreed to it, and set up weekly meetings to help them. As they are new to the Tech Challenge and are just starting out, Ethan helped them with the brainstorming process in this first meeting. He gave them ideas for how they can tackle their challenge, and even brought insight from FTC about how to keep a thorough Engineering Notebook by using our very own as an example.

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Bret Harte Engineering Demo - March 5, 2020

During this demo, we had members of our team go to Bret Harte Middle School’s 8th grade engineering class. We gave a presentation about who we are and what FIRST is, as well as how these students can join either FTC or FRC when they enter high school the next year. Afterward, we demonstrated our robot from the Rover Ruckus season, Pyxis. We also gave the students a chance to take turns driving the robot, so they can get a first-hand experience using it.Since the students in this engineering class are all 8th graders, we wanted to make sure that they continue pursuing engineering after they graduate from middle school. However, there aren’t many engineering classes offered at Leland High School, where most of these 8th graders will be going which is why we wanted to give these students an opportunity to continue pursuing engineering during high school. When the students were driving around the robot, it was evident that they saw just how much more they could do if they spent more time developing their skill, realizing how much could be done from robotics. By hosting this demo, we not only able to get more people to participate in FIRST but more importantly, we are making sure that these students continue to develop their skills in STEM.