Engineering Design Process Saves the Day!

Our robot skit contains explains how we used the Engineering Design Process to complete the FLL challenge of building a robot that is able to maneuver the board and complete as many missions as possible in 2.5 minutes. The engineering design process is a 5 part process that is meant to make us critically think about what we are doing and why. The steps are Ask, Imagine, Plan, Build and Improve. We choose to do our presentation this way because we think it easily shows the different steps we took to complete our robot challenge. 
First we needed to ask ourselves what we needed to do and how we were going to do it. Next, we imagined how we wanted our robot to be. We of course had a million ideas of what our robot should look like and what attachments would be useful in our missions. After that we made a plan!  We needed to make a plan on how to build the main bot and then how we would achieve success on each of the missions. All that was worth it though because after all our planning we finally got to start building! Then I realized that building was the hardest part of all! We created our attachments but some of them didn't work so we needed to change them which was perfect because the last step in the engineering design process is IMPROVE! And that is really fun too! We had a chance to think critically about what the current design was doing and ways that we could improve it. Sometimes we had to go through the process multiple times on the same mission, but once we finally had success it was a great feeling!

We have started a countdown til competition....14 days!

Check back soon!!

Finishing Touches!

Our costumes came in the mail over break and we couldn't wait to try them on....they are pretty itchy but we are still excited to use them. :) 

Programming Day 1

Programming

Aloha, my name is Taye Mowat. My fellow teammate Kaitlin DeRouin and I have worked very hard on one of our robot missions to capture Lego animals, people, and safety equipment. This mission is to get the animals, people, and safety equipment to the red safety zone safely. Our main focus on October 9, 2013 was to capture the two animals (the dog then cat) then knock the coconut leaf off of the tree without interfering with the electric line.

It took us about one to two hours to finally capture the cat and dog, but we finished before practice was over. Now we just need to think of a way to knock off the coconut leaf, get the people and safety equipment, and bring them all to base. After we figure out how to accomplish this, we will need to find a way to put all the objects into a box like attachment, drive it to the red safety zone, and return to base. To complete this mission we are using two stick like pieces called an axle. Holding the two stick like pieces together is a smaller connector piece. At the tip of the axle is another tiny piece that sticks out and supports the objects from falling. That is our progress on this mission! Wish us good luck...we may need it!

 

  

 

   

Introducing Dave Kozuki!

Dave Kozuki is the lead developer of Social Media for Natural Disaster Response and Recovery. Dave helped us with his level of expertise on social media in the event of a natural disaster. He gave us a website of a new and cutting edge invention that relates to our project and introduced us to the CEO of that product. He also helped us think of ways we could make our innovative solution better by making us think critically and giving us the hard answers we were looking for during our interview.  We were not sure how important social media would be during a natural disaster but Dave was able to help us realize that social media is growing to become a huge piece of natural disasters. We are so happy that we were able to work with Mr. Kozuki and he could help us with our project. 

Challenge Board building party!

On Friday October 4, our team got together and built our 2013 Nature's Fury robot challenge board. 

IT WAS AWESOME! 

I really liked it. At first it was hard but then my teammate Kaitlin and I built one of the models together and I learned how to build with LEGO's. We were having a great time, laughing and talking! She spent a lot of time helping me learn how to follow the directions and after each step, checking to make sure the model built looks identical to the picture in the directions.  When I learned how to do it I did three other models by myself, but it definitely wasn't easy. I did have a hard time at first but then I proved to myself I could do anything I wanted. By the end of the day I was in LOVE WITH LEGO's!! 

I am really looking forward to building our robot to complete the missions and spend more time with LEGOs! 

Adios!

Marianna C. 

Dr. Stewart Morgan, PhD, DVM

Hi, Taye here to share with you what we learned when we interviewed Dr. Stewart Morgan from the Molokai Humane Society. I thought Dr. Morgan's presentation was very helpful for our team because our innovative invention might include a microchip. Since he presented microchips we have a better understanding of how to make our invention better and we also know how the band will work and why. I enjoyed the presentation because he helped us a lot and the presentation was very descriptive.  Below are my notes from his presentation. 

Dr. Morgan Presentation Notes

·       Microchips show different information depending on how the microchip is detected or scanned.

·       Sometimes microchips can cause a type of cancer in the area were the microchip is placed.

·       Once a microchip is placed in a body it cannot be taken out or turned off without complicated surgery.

·       Some microchips measure temperature in an animal’s body.

·       There is a type of microchip that measures blood glucose.

·       There is a device that is able to scan/detect microchips it scans the microchips number and sends back the microchips information from that certain microchip that the device scans.

·       The more the microchip is programmed to do the larger the microchip will be.

Uses of a Microchip

·       Electric circuit (circuit=a tiny device that uses very little energy).

·       Microchips don’t use batteries and never lose battery they use energy from electric fields.

·       When microchips are implanted in a body there is no pain.

·       A small reaction in the body creates to keep the microchip in place.

·       Microchips do not cause total disruption.

·       After the microchip is implanted contact the microchip company and register information of human or animal just in case any thing happens.

CHEESE!

We have been practicing everyday from 10am-5pm in Auntie Jenn's hot office and we still manage to keep on smiling! Here we are working on a teamwork activity!

We're off to see the wizard- the wonderful WIZARD of OZ!

For our project presentation we are going to be doing a skit based on the movie "The Wizard of Oz". There are four people on our team so we have four parts- Aunty Em, The Wicked Weather Witch, Patty the Prepared Witch, and of course Dorothy!

The skit is an informational skit about the natural disaster we chose to research, earthquakes. We chose earthquakes because they are unpredictable and can impact our community. We will also share the details about our innovative solution during this presentation. 

So far for our team the most challenging part of our presentation is not being shy! We are working on encouraging each other everyday so we can each do our best at the competition on Maui next month!

Thanks for checking out our blog! Check back again soon!!

30 days til competition!!

Aloha-

 Lana D. 

Our Robot has a name!

Our robot's name is "Oz the Great and Powerful"! 

We chose this name to represent our robot because it relates to our team's theme (The Wizard of Oz) and because our robot is GREAT and POWERFUL! 

Our robot fulfills the FLL missions to save people from natural disasters on the challenge board. Our robot is a sturdy bot and we are excited to continue building attachments for it!  

Practice 10.7.13

Hi, it's Kaitlin. Today for practice we were in robot mode with a little bit of presentation mode. We built our base bot which is really important because we will want to add all of our attachments on to the bot easily and quickly. We also discussed the board and how many points each mission is worth. We were thinking about some possible attachments for our robot. We focused on the mission that bring the supply truck and the ambulance to the yellow safe zone area. We built the attachment and we are now trying to program with a free edition of the software. It is kind of difficult to program because it is a new software and we do not have the real version, but we are getting the hang of it with the help of our awesome Coach Auntie Jenn. When we were kind of getting bored working on the robot we switched to be working on the presentation. Our presentation is based on The Wizard of Oz, but Lana will tell you more about that later! When we were done working on the presentation the parents came to pick up there wonderful kids. So thanks for reading about what we did today. 

Bye, Kaitlin D.       

Meet Marianna C!

My name is Marianna, I am 13 years old and am from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I moved to Molokai last year because of my dad's job. This is my first year in robotics and I LOVE IT!  I wanted to join robotics because it is a part of STEM and I love STEM. When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian and robotics will help me because we will learn how to do research and work with my team members to solve problems and will be able to help more animals. 
I like coming to robotics practice because I get to hang out with my friends and have fun while learning something new. I am excited to see what the competitions are like on Maui.

ADIOS!!!!

We wanted to learn more about microchipping so we asked the vet!!

A great big MAHALO to Dr. Stewart Morgan, veterinarian from the Molokai Humane Society, who came and talked to us about microchipping animals! His presentation was very informative we really made us start to consider some different ideas for our project. We are working on typing up our notes from his presentation and when we do we will be sharing them here so check back soon!!

Team Bonding!

Getting all set for the big movie! :)

Earlier in the season, our team got together for a little team bonding at Kaitlin's house and watched the movie "The Wizard of Oz". We took this time very seriously, as we completed this very intense research on natural disasters. (Dorothy gets carried away by a tornado, of course!) Or course the most important component to this "research" was making sure we had enough food!! :)

Meet Lana D!

HI!! 
My name is Lana D and I am 11 years old. I attend Molokai Middle School and am in 7th grade. This is my fifth year in robotics. My favorite part of FLL and STEM is learning about programing robots but the BEST part of robotics to me is the presentation. I love being creative and coming up with skits and songs to share our information. Although I do find it challenging to remember all the lines.

This year I hope to learn about natural disasters and how to prepare for them. FLL robotics will help me in the future because in some colleges they will ask you if you have experience in engineering and I will be able to say YES! 

 I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in robotics and am excited for this season! 

 

Raising Awareness Part 1

The following article will be run in the Molokai Dispatch the Sept 18 edition. We will be doing weekly articles until competition time. 

Aloha, we are the 2013 Molokai Middle School FLL Robotics Team. This year the First LEGO League theme is Nature’s Fury and is focused on helping communities PREPARE, STAY SAFE, and REBUILD after a natural disaster. Part of the challenge is to raise awareness on the topic of natural disasters.

September is a time to prepare yourself and those in your care for emergencies and disasters. If you’ve seen the news recently, you know that emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like ours. We’ve seen tornados, flash floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and even power outages in U.S. cities affecting millions of people for days at a time.

Police, fire, and rescue may not always be able to reach you quickly in an emergency or disaster. The most important step you can take in helping your local responders is being able to take care of yourself and those in your care; the more people who are prepared the quicker the community will recover.

This September, please be prepared in the event you must go for 3 days without electricity, water, and access to local services.

By following these 4 steps you will be on your way to staying safe.

**Stay Informed

**Make a Plan

**Build a kit

**Get involved.

By taking a few simple actions, you can make your family safer. 

We care about our community and will be putting weekly articles in the paper to help you all be as prepared as possible for a natural disaster. For more information on our team, check out our blog at http://mmsrobotics2013.blogspot.com/

- Kaitlin D., Taye M., Lana D., Marianna C.

Meet Taye M!

Aloha!

My name is Taye, I am 12 years old and I currently attend Molokai Middle School. I have been participating in FLL for four years. I have stuck with this program for many years because I work well with others and enjoy it too. I love creating and being active which is perfect because we make short skits to present our solution. This year I hope to become a better leader and learn more about the natural forces of the world that create natural disasters.

FLL will help me in the future by helping me be able to work with others as a team and find solutions with guidance from others.  I have learned to think by myself because in FLL our coaches and mentors don’t just give us the answers. I have learned to honor the spirit of friendly competition and I will know that my discoveries are more important than winning.

This will be my final year in FLL Robotics and I am excited to do my best and represent my school and island the best that I can. 

Meet Kaitlin D!

Hi yah! 
My name is Kaitlin D. I am 12 years old and a 7th grader at Molokai Middle School. I have been in First Lego League Robotics for 3 years. My favorite part of robotics is hanging out with my awesome teammates and describing my project to the terrific judges. The hardest part in FLL is identifying a problem and creating an innovative solution. It is challenging to identify a real problem because we get so excited to be innovative that we usually create our solution first. I hope to learn how  to work better with my teammates and learn the natural causes around the world. 

When I get older I can follow the FLL Core Values by working with others, by being a problem solver and to share our experience with others. This year I am so excited to begin robotics for a new start and to meet new people at the Molokai Middle School. 

The 2013 Team is up and running! :)

Welcome to the blog of the 2013 Molokai Middle School FLL Competitive Robotics Team!!!
This year's team consists of four bright young women with a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics! This years First Lego League challenge focuses on Natural Disasters and is entitled Nature's Fury. It is our job this season to develop an innovative solution that helps people prepare, stay safe, or rebuild during or after a natural disaster.

We are excited to tackle this challenge, especially living on our small island which faces many potential natural disasters each year.

Please continue to check back often and see how we are working towards solving the FLL's Nature's Fury Challenge!