We're working on a provisional patent. We met with an attorney from Boyle Fredrickson and he explained about the different kinds of patents. We presented our project skit to him since it was a fast and easy way to explain our project, including our World Class Question which contains problem identification, the existing solutions, our innovative solution, and our plan of implementation. After our meeting, we got to show his young son our robot. A future team member, perhaps?
Thank you for sponsoring our team!
We are a 4-H FIRST LEGO League team from Waukesha, WI. Our team and the FIRST organization are for inspiration and recognition of science and technology, driven by gracious professionalism. In our 9-year history, we've been awarded Teamwork, Robot Performance, three Innovative Solutions, three Inspirations, 1st and 2nd place Research, two Champions, two Runners up Champions, 2nd Place Alliance, 3rd Place Core Values, and yes, even Gracious Professionalism. In all things, TEAMwork counts!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Waukesha JanBoree
Each year at the Waukesha JanBoree pancake breakfast, we bring our robot and our project display boards to share with our community. And each year, we have many families who come back year after year to see our team, our robot, and see what new thing we invented!
This family has come to see us for several years.
This little guy needed a boost up to see the robot.
There's always a steady flow of visitors to see our team.
The JanBoree Tweets about us at the event! And one of these costume characters is a former team member. Hmmm....which one?
If you guessed the polar bear, you were right! He's also the brother of a current team member.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Tackling Everything And More!
So what's next?
Even though our team didn't move on from our regional tournament this year, it doesn't mark the end of the robotics season for us. We are still super excited for our project and hope to see just how far we can take our innovative solution. Winning the innovative solution award really inspired and encouraged us. Currently we are looking into getting a provisional patent and applying for the Global Innovation Award. Wouldn't that be crazy cool?!
We are looking forward to participating in one more "mini 4-H tournament" as well. Seeing as we are a 4-H team, after the holidays we plan to group back together and prepare for our upcoming 4-H judging. Then summer plans have yet to be made, but we usually keep active in the community with displays and demonstrations at fairs and local events and gathering general background research for next year's theme.
So keep an eye out for #4889 T.E.A.M. Dia-Get-It!
Even though our team didn't move on from our regional tournament this year, it doesn't mark the end of the robotics season for us. We are still super excited for our project and hope to see just how far we can take our innovative solution. Winning the innovative solution award really inspired and encouraged us. Currently we are looking into getting a provisional patent and applying for the Global Innovation Award. Wouldn't that be crazy cool?!
We are looking forward to participating in one more "mini 4-H tournament" as well. Seeing as we are a 4-H team, after the holidays we plan to group back together and prepare for our upcoming 4-H judging. Then summer plans have yet to be made, but we usually keep active in the community with displays and demonstrations at fairs and local events and gathering general background research for next year's theme.
So keep an eye out for #4889 T.E.A.M. Dia-Get-It!
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Hey, Why Not?! :D
What about sectionals? Yep, we were there!
...No, we didn't go to compete.
We went to have fun and encourage other teams!
Our coaches and mentors donned the classy red judges shirts and suited up in the cool striped referee shirts while we sported the snazzy blue volunteer shirts. But that's not all! On Saturday, December 13th, seven nifty hats and creative costumes bustled about the tournament. We love having fun and showing our FLL enthusiasm! We know from experience how awesome it is when a volunteer can put a smile on someone's face. So we all dressed up in goofy hats, clown noses, stick-on mustaches, and more! It was great!
...I think we started something awesome... We will definitely have to do it again. Who knows, maybe all the volunteers will pick up on it and before long, we'll get everyone grinning from ear to ear all the day long!
We truly had a terrific time. Not only did we get to encouraged other teams, they encouraged us too! It's been an amazing season filled with incredible people and memorable experiences. Can't wait for the state tournament!!!
...No, we didn't go to compete.
We went to have fun and encourage other teams!
Our coaches and mentors donned the classy red judges shirts and suited up in the cool striped referee shirts while we sported the snazzy blue volunteer shirts. But that's not all! On Saturday, December 13th, seven nifty hats and creative costumes bustled about the tournament. We love having fun and showing our FLL enthusiasm! We know from experience how awesome it is when a volunteer can put a smile on someone's face. So we all dressed up in goofy hats, clown noses, stick-on mustaches, and more! It was great!
...I think we started something awesome... We will definitely have to do it again. Who knows, maybe all the volunteers will pick up on it and before long, we'll get everyone grinning from ear to ear all the day long!
We truly had a terrific time. Not only did we get to encouraged other teams, they encouraged us too! It's been an amazing season filled with incredible people and memorable experiences. Can't wait for the state tournament!!!
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| Trying on hats! |
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
A Square of Friends :)
We have fun outside of FLL too! Today we went to see the movie Big Hero 6 together. We all had a great time and enjoyed the movie and its themes of robotics and friendship building.
We take the FLL core values to heart and the seven of us really bonded this year. Though we live in different counties, attend different 4-H clubs, and are all different ages, FLL brought us together. We were more than just an FLL team. We became close-knit friends.
In fact we incorporated that on the robotics competition field! This year one of the missions was to build and deliver a unique apprenticeship model. We built ours in team colors with minifigs sitting inside a circle. ...Only our model was square, so we called it our square of friends. ;)
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Our Tournament!!!
Our team competed this past Sunday at the Marquette regional tournament. We did a great job and had a ton of fun. Unfortunately, our lead robot driver was unable to attend the tournament. To represent our missing team member we put a Lego mini figure on the front of the robot.
After we set up or pit display, we had interviews. First, was the project interview which went great despite a few missing props. Thankfully, we were able to recover smoothly and finish the presentation. In the Q and A afterward the judges only had two questions and were able to dismiss us to our next interview early.
While we were waiting for our next interview, we realized we had forgotten our laptop down at our pit table. After retrieving the laptop from the pits, our team was ready to go. We had one of the best robot design interviews we have had yet! All the team members from head programmers to skit writers had something great to add to the conversation. The programmers wowed the judges with how well they understood the robot code and their effective use of the gyro sensor.
In our first robot match we scored 69 points and we were in 10th place. Afterward, we got some time on the practice tables and worked on some quick fixes to our programs. Then, we headed off to our second robot match. This time we scored 40 points and were in 22nd. After programming another quick mission to help us score a little higher we went back for our third robot match. The programs ran almost perfectly but our score was only 66 points. Afterward, we found out that one of the mission models had been built incorrectly and had undone a task. However, it was too late to do anything about it so we remained in 22nd place. A bit disappointed, we headed off to the award ceremony.
At the award ceremony our team won the Innovative Solution award which quickly restored our spirits! Though we didn't move on to sectionals we still had a ton of fun and, as always, we headed off for some ice cream to celebrate.
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| T.E.A.M. with mini Alex queued and ready to go for interviews |
After we set up or pit display, we had interviews. First, was the project interview which went great despite a few missing props. Thankfully, we were able to recover smoothly and finish the presentation. In the Q and A afterward the judges only had two questions and were able to dismiss us to our next interview early.
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| Our Pit! |
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| Preparing for Interviews |
While we were waiting for our next interview, we realized we had forgotten our laptop down at our pit table. After retrieving the laptop from the pits, our team was ready to go. We had one of the best robot design interviews we have had yet! All the team members from head programmers to skit writers had something great to add to the conversation. The programmers wowed the judges with how well they understood the robot code and their effective use of the gyro sensor.
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| Running the robot |
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| At the practice tables |
After the robot interview, we just had our core values interview left. The teamwork exercise went great and the judges were impressed with how organized our team was. After a short Q and A the interviews were over and we just had robot matches left.
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| Sitting with other teams in the audience |
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| The Robot Stage |
In our first robot match we scored 69 points and we were in 10th place. Afterward, we got some time on the practice tables and worked on some quick fixes to our programs. Then, we headed off to our second robot match. This time we scored 40 points and were in 22nd. After programming another quick mission to help us score a little higher we went back for our third robot match. The programs ran almost perfectly but our score was only 66 points. Afterward, we found out that one of the mission models had been built incorrectly and had undone a task. However, it was too late to do anything about it so we remained in 22nd place. A bit disappointed, we headed off to the award ceremony.
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| In the Pit |
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| T.E.A.M. Huddle |
At the award ceremony our team won the Innovative Solution award which quickly restored our spirits! Though we didn't move on to sectionals we still had a ton of fun and, as always, we headed off for some ice cream to celebrate.
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| #4889 T.E.A.M. Dia-Get-It - Thumbs up! |
Friday, November 7, 2014
Survey About Diabetic Education
We are super excited about our research project this year!
Our team discovered that some newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetics struggle in their diabetic classes to understand everything they need to know about their disease. Current teaching methods just aren't effective enough. We asked ourselves, "How can we help newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetics understand and learn to manage their diabetes in a fun way?"
We are working with several professionals and expert teams who assist us in research and developing ideas for our innovative solution. Wanna help too? Now you can!
Please, take a survey! We have designed three different surveys, about 10 questions each, to help us gather statistics and information we need to solve this ever-growing problem. You can find links to our surveys listed below. To get started, select one that applies to you!
Thanks so much for all your help! It means a lot to us!
Our team discovered that some newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetics struggle in their diabetic classes to understand everything they need to know about their disease. Current teaching methods just aren't effective enough. We asked ourselves, "How can we help newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetics understand and learn to manage their diabetes in a fun way?"
We are working with several professionals and expert teams who assist us in research and developing ideas for our innovative solution. Wanna help too? Now you can!
Please, take a survey! We have designed three different surveys, about 10 questions each, to help us gather statistics and information we need to solve this ever-growing problem. You can find links to our surveys listed below. To get started, select one that applies to you!
Thanks so much for all your help! It means a lot to us!
- For the Type 1 Diabetic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DFBS9ZZ
- For each caregiver of a Type 1 Diabetic (past and present): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DFQGTNX
- For professionals and leaders who have contact with Type 1 Diabetics: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9NNLM88
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