{"id":11945,"date":"2018-04-05T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T19:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/04\/05\/news-5714\/"},"modified":"2018-04-05T11:00:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T19:00:30","slug":"news-5714","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/04\/05\/news-5714\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brainiac Maniacs Advance to FIRST Lego League World Championship with Support from Schneider Electric and Girl Scouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Employee Voices| Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:00:14 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written by Guest Blogger,\u00a0James McGill<\/a><\/p>\n

Why STEM for Kids<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I have always been passionate about developing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) for children, especially girls as I am the father of two daughters.\u00a0 STEM opens up a world of possibilities for children in terms of knowledge, leadership, and potential careers.\u00a0 There is a special joy at seeing children learn and develop beyond what they thought they could do and knowing you\u2019ve made a positive impact on their lives.<\/p>\n

Our Experience with FLL<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"My wife, Josephine, and I became involved in FIRST Lego League<\/a> (FLL) about 5 years ago when our oldest daughter joined a team sponsored by the Girl Scouts.\u00a0 FIRST<\/a>\u00a0(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.\u00a0 FLL is aimed specifically for 9-14 year old children, and uses Lego Mindstorms technology, which includes a programmable \u201cbrain\u201d with motors, sensors and toolkit to teach kids about robots.\u00a0 It has three elements:\u00a0 Robot Game, Project and Core Values.\u00a0 For the robot game, the team creates and programs a robot to complete missions with different point values on a course in 2.5 minutes.\u00a0 For the project, the team researches and presents a solution to a real-world problem.\u00a0 Finally, for core values section, the team shows how FLL has benefited them and others as well as demonstrating teamwork by solving a challenge.<\/p>\n

The History of the Brainiac Maniacs<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We saw the many benefits that FLL provided Kyna in terms of leadership, teamwork and just plain enjoyment, so in 2014 we started coaching our own team named the \u201cBrainiac Maniacs\u201d composed of Girl Scouts from San Jacinto County.\u00a0 Every year since then, the Brainiac Maniacs has won one or more awards, including robot design, project research, core values (teamwork) and has gone to the regional championships.\u00a0 Over the past two years, the team has had sponsorship from Schneider Electric, which provides monetary support by a grant and other types of support.<\/p>\n

Brainiac Maniacs:\u00a0 2017 Edition<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"For the 2017 FLL season, Kyna and the rest of the team \u201caged out\u201d of FLL as they all turned 14, and so we started a new team of 8-to-10 year-old Girl Scouts, including Ava, our youngest daughter.\u00a0 The team is composed of 10 girls with diverse backgrounds, including Chinese, Indian, African-American and Caucasian.\u00a0 Even more inspiring is that 9 of the 10 girls had not been involved in robotics before.\u00a0 They had to learn while doing against many teams that were older and more experienced, but their passion, knowledge, determination and just plain joy carried the day!\u00a0 They had so much fun that they even made a parody song<\/a> as part of a FIRST competition<\/p>\n

The 2017-2018 Journey<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Each year, FLL has a theme which is the basis of the robot game and guides the team projects.\u00a0 The 2017-2018 season theme is Hydro Dynamics, which focuses on ways to improve the human water cycle. \u00a0The robot game course included missions such as putting water (a Lego cylinder) into a fountain, watering flowers, etc.\u00a0 The team did very well and designed and programmed a robot that used a gyroscope for more accurate turns and a light sensor to detect lines on the course.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

For the project, the team identified lawn overwatering as the problem as many people over-water their lawns by 30%-300%.\u00a0 The solution they created is the Water Wizard\"\u2122\", which is an app combined with lawn watering solutions. Based on their 500+ survey responses (including many Schneider Electric employees), the Water Wizard could save more than 300,000 gallons\/week\/home, which is enough to provide water to 140 homes!<\/p>\n

During the December 2017 FLL local qualifier in Katy, Texas<\/a>, the judging went smoothly, but the first robot game was very challenging. \u00a0Due to a gyroscope malfunction, nothing worked and the team scored a 0. \u00a0Our hearts ached for them, and many of the team (and a few adults as well) were crying by the end, but it was great to see so many people console them, including their parents, tournament officials and other teams!\u00a0 Instead of folding, they rebounded, figured out the problem and how to deal with it if it happened again.\u00a0 For the second match, another two team members went up and their score placed them third out of 24 teams. \u00a0For the last match, the two members that had the malfunction came back with fire in their eyes and had a perfect run, which put them in first place score, where they remained!\u00a0 They won first place for Robot Performance and first place for project research, which gave them 1 of 8 tickets to the FLL Regional Championship.
<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The FLL Regional Championship<\/h4>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

They then prepared for the FLL Regional Championship by improving their robot, programs and presentations over six weeks.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the day before the championship, some of the programs that had been operating nearly flawlessly stopped working.\u00a0 They saw that one wheel was wobbling, so they took the robot apart and found that some of the parts had cracked and warped due to significant use over the 6 months.\u00a0 They replaced them and it mostly fixed the problem, but there was still more variability than before.<\/p>\n

At the Regional Championship, they were ranked a respectable 8th place out of 60 teams in robot performance (as the robot still had some variability) and thought they did well during the judging sessions.\u00a0 The judges were actually very impressed by their in-depth knowledge, support for one another, and just plain grit!\u00a0 At the award ceremony, the suspense built and the Brainiac Maniacs were announced as the winner of the First Place Champion’s Award and the team going to the FLL World Championship in Houston from April 18-21!\u00a0 Out of 33,000 FLL teams globally, they\u00a0are one of only 108 from 45 countries going to the World Championship!<\/p>\n

A Sweet Bonus<\/h4>\n

In addition, my oldest daughter Kyna’s FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team CRyptonite (Team 624) recently competed and won the El Paso regional competition.\u00a0 They are now going to the FIRST World Championship, as well!<\/p>\n

So, we are very proud parents as both our youngest daughter Ava and our oldest daughter Kyna are now going to the FIRST world championship.<\/p>\n

Lessons Learned<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

There were a few lessons the team learned:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Things happen, don’t let it keep you down!<\/li>\n
  2. Hard work pays off, if not by winning, then by learning and doing!<\/li>\n
  3. Focus on doing well in all areas, not just excellent in one!<\/li>\n
  4. Work together as team and support one another<\/li>\n
  5. Winning is sweet, but it\u2019s not everything! Having FUN is!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Thank You to the Girl Scouts and Schneider Electric<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    <\/u>I am very thankful that the Girl Scouts supports programs such as FLL and to work for Schneider Electric, which provides strong support for STEM through grants from the Schneider Electric North America Foundation, which provides grants for FIRST teams, such as the Brainiac Maniacs, and our employees that that provided support and feedback for their project.<\/p>\n

    <\/u>I am very proud to work for Schneider Electric, which supports both of my daughters’ teams.\u00a0 The Girl Scouts, FIRST and Schneider Electric have made an impact on these girls\u2019 lives that they won\u2019t soon forget!<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    \"\"About the Author<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    James McGill is the Vice President of Software Engagement in the Digital Plant business of Schneider Electric.\u00a0 He has a Masters in Chemical Engineering and an MBA.\u00a0 He has two daughters aged 15 and 10 and volunteers in a number of activities including FIRST, Destination Imagination, Girl Scouts, Mensa and others.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

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    The post The Brainiac Maniacs Advance to FIRST Lego League World Championship with Support from Schneider Electric and Girl Scouts<\/a> appeared first on Schneider Electric Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    http:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Credit to Author: Employee Voices| Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:00:14 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Written by Guest Blogger,\u00a0James McGill Why STEM for Kids I have always been passionate about developing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) for children, especially girls as I… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n

    The post The Brainiac Maniacs Advance to FIRST Lego League World Championship with Support from Schneider Electric and Girl Scouts<\/a> appeared first on Schneider Electric Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[12389,12388],"tags":[18031,18032,18033,12824,18034,11965,18035],"class_list":["post-11945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scadaics","category-schneider","tag-community-service","tag-first","tag-first-robotics","tag-life-schneider-blog","tag-north-america-foundation","tag-sponsorship","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}