On June 14th 2018, the RoboRavens were invited to this year’s annual ACES BBQ held by one of our feeder schools, Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School (ACES). Having part of our team coming from ACES, we realize the importance in spreading STEAM programs around the community especially to younger kids as this helps stimulate their imagination, leadership, teamwork and problem solving skills at a younger age.
For this outreach, we decided to take a different approach than we normally do as the space was limited and the crowds were big. We took some Arduino kits showing an LED changing colours depending on the ultrasonic distance and another one with a small DC motor and a potentiometer. We also brought our beta tester vex robot which was very popular amongst young students as they were allowed control the movement of the drivetrain, arm and claw grabbing a water bottle. We also demoed our very own 2017 FRC Steamworks robot, Cliff Hanger, and explained how the robot works.
This outreach was a successful one as each of us could see the students eyes glow when they saw the robots. These future STEAM students made us realize what the next generation of leaders will be as they showed their strong intelligence through asking so many question and was even interested in coming to Longfields-Davidson Height S.S when they graduate from ACES to join this awesome program. It was great seeing what a robot demo can do to one’s brain to provoke its innovation and creativity.
This outreach being the last one of the season right before our team BBQ to end the year off. The RoboRavens are proud of the things we’ve done this season and will continue to strive to spread the message of STEAM. We would like to encourage everyone to keep on spreading STEAM around their community as we anticipate the 2019 space season!!!