FIRST World Festival, Atlanta, April 15-17, 2010
Team Rex had a blast at the World Festival. The three days in Atlanta were an intense experience for both the team and the parents.
The pit area was decorated with our banner and a world map where we collected buttons from teams all around the globe.
Third robot run at the World Festival in Atlanta
on 4/16/2010 with Lena and Tobias.
The whole team drove to Atlanta the day before the World Festival. The trip only takes 7 hours from Elon, NC to Atlanta, including a good meal and a few bathroom breaks. Using our cars had the advantage that we were not limited in the items we could bring for our pit. Other teams from around the country or even the world were not as fortunate.
The Three Judging Sessions
Besides building and running a robot, the team had to pick a research topic (Bus Route Optimization)
and present their findings to a panel of judges. This included the performance of a skit followed by questions from the judges.
Next, the team had to go through a technial interview explaining the robot and the programs in detail.
Finally, a third group of judges looked at their teamwork and made sure everybody knew the core values of FIRST and what the term Gracious Professionalism means.
The Pit Area
There were 84 teams from 35 countries from all around the world. Each team had a 10 by 10 foot space where they could represent their state or country by decorating their pit. The pit are was very colorful and busy during the two days it was open.
Team Rex represented North Carolina with a banner titled "From the Mountains to the Sea". We also had a world map where other teams could attach their buttons to in order to be entered for a drawing. The grand prize was a dinosaur pinata that was won by the French team.
We also had a cookie jar with Lego candy and the one that guessed the number of pieces the closest could win the whole jar. The Super Smarties from Boise, Idaho won the prize. The funny thing was that Jan won their candy prize in return.
Robot Test Runs
During the test runs the children could experience the excitement of being on stage and the center of attention while keeping their cool and staying focused.
We also learned how to get from the pit area to the Georgia Dome floor and where we needed to sign in and queue up for our robot runs.
A Walk Through the FRC Pits
FRC and FTC is the next program after the children age out of FLL. In the US FRC and FTC is for children age 14 to 18 - offered at the High Shool level.
FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) uses the same Lego Minstorms controlller and sensors, but the robots are made with a system of prefabricated metal parts, called Tetrix.
FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) is the highest level of the program where high school students build robots almost from scratch.
Group Activities with Spanish Team Laurosonic
Our team was linked with the Spanish Team to come up with a handshake and to make a paper quilt. They also had to visit three FRC and three FTC teams.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony was just fantastic and got us all very excited.
Both Dean Kamen and Woody Flowers welcomed the teams from all over the world.
Ice Cream Party at Centennial Park
After a long day filled with many exciting tasks the ice cream party outdoors was a great change in scenery and activities.
Various teams had signed up to perform on stage along with the judges and referees.
Robot Runs
The robot runs were extremely nerve racking but the children kept their cool. Being on the floor of the Georgia Dome in front of a big, even world wide (via Internet) audience was a great experience.
Woody Flowers
Tobias' dream comes true: meeting Woody Flowers - emeritius professsor at MIT; he created the term Gracious Professionalism.
Gigantic Cookie and Milk
Gavin shared this wonderful cookie cake two nights in a row - we all washed it down with gallons of milk.
Beyond FLL: Aquarium, CNN and Stone Mountain
Tour Through the FTC and FRC Pit Area
Our team had a personalized guided tour with three tour guides. The tour was extremely informative especially in regards to the decision on how to proceed in the upcoming years.
FLL Award Ceremony
All the children were called on the stage within their teams and received a shiny medal.
Party at Centennial Park
Party time: centennial park was closed off for the public - we had great food, great entertainment and splendid fireworks.
Atlanta is not known to be a tourist destination but there are quite a few things that we could sqeeze into out tight schedules.
There are the Coke museum and aquarium right next to the Gerogia Dome and congress center and worth a visit.
On Saturday, all families took a tour through the CNN headquarters which was very informative. We could even look into the studio where a live broadcast took place .
On Sunday, we stopped at Stone Mountain right outside of Atlanta on our way back home.