Fri Jul 21 6-7pm Open House Info Session for VEX IQ and FLL Challenge (grades 4-8)

This Friday July 21 6:00pm to 7:00pm (70 South Orange Avenue, STE 106, Livingston, NJ) we’re hosting another open house session for families interested in forming or joining a robotics team, Grades 4-8.
We will cover:
– VEX IQ (VIQ)
– FIRST Lego League Challenge
– How Livingston Robotics Club can support your teammates
Livingston Robotics Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, a part of Livingston HCHY (Healthy Community Healthy Youth).
If you park in front (facing South Orange Ave) enter the main entrance and make a left from the lobby. If you park in back, enter the main entrance and make a right from the lobby. We’re on the 1st floor.

April 30, 2022 Maker Madness in Maplewood

Posting for a neighborhood STEM event in nearby Maplewood, NJ….

Maker Madness is Back!
Everyone is invited to join on Saturday, April 30th between 10 AM-2PM for Achieve’s popular family-friendly STEAM fair, with FREE hands-on activities for kids of all ages.

Join them for a fun day that will include:
*outdoor STEM demonstrations and activities on Ritzer Field and the Springfield Avenue Gazebo (including Robotics, MaplewoodShop, Meet the Bees, Bubble-making and more!).

*Take+Make kits to be picked up at various SOMa locations and completed at home. Stop by A Paper Hat and BCB Bank in Maplewood Village, Finlay+Gage on Springfield Ave., or Cold Stone and Sparkhouse Toys in South Orange to get your take-home maker kits.

Note: Rain Date is Sunday, May 1st. #WhatWillYouMake?

More information at:
https://achievefoundation.org/maker-madness/

Registration Open for May 14, Cargo Connect FLL Liberty Science Center Invitational Competition!

Early registration is open for an IN-PERSON FLL CARGO CONNECT competition to be held at the Liberty Science Center (Jersey City, NJ) on Saturday May 14th, 2022. We will have spots for 36 teams for a full day event starting at 8am ET and ending 5pm ET with opening ceremonies, in-person judging, 3 robot runs paired with another team, awards presentations, and closing ceremonies.
EARLY REGISTRATION FORM: https://forms.gle/AZ3ND7pBYnhkkumEA

This Community Event will be open to all registered 2021/2022 FLL Cargo Connect teams in the United States. This event is for FLL CHALLENGE teams (grades 4-8), not FLL Explore teams. 

The event will adhere to all local, state, and CDC COVID19 safety protocols as of May 14, 2022.

Questions can be directed to: info@americanroboticsopen.org
Find us on Facebook @AmericanInvitationalRobotics
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanInvitationalRobotics/
https://americanroboticsopen.org/

==== COST =====
• $300 Event Registration Fee includes admission to LSC (Liberty Science Center) exhibits for 4 student team members and 2 coaches. A maximum of 6 additional student team members are allowed at a cost of $17/student and also includes admission to LSC exhibits. This may not include special exhibits that LSC rotates through on a seasonal basis.
• On-site parking is $10/vehicle. Lower cost parking is available 1 block north at the Liberty State Park – Park & Ride Lot.
• Friends & family wishing to watch the event will need admission to LSC. Admission rates are listed at www.lsc.org.

==== KEY DATES ====
• March 8, 2022 – Early Registration Opens
• April 1, 2022 – $300 deposit required. Deposit is refundable if another team can be found to take your place.
• May 1, 2022 – full balance due
• May 7, 2022 – Registration closes

==== INFO SESSIONS ====
• Every Sunday 9:00pm – 9:30pm ET from March 13 – May 8, 2022
Liberty Science Center FLL Cargo Connect – Info Session
https://meet.google.com/yyf-efws-fgg

==== OTHER INFO ====
1) We are expecting total team registration cost to $500 range. We expect to finalize this by March 15, 2022
2) The operating entity for this event is “American Robotics Open Championship Corp.” NJ 501(c)(3) non-profit.
3) 18 spots will be held for regional Champions Award Teams, other high performing teams as nominated by FLL Regional Partners, and other local partner teams. The remaining 18 spots will be given out on a first come first serve basis.
4) This is a FIRST “Community Event” and we are keeping FIRST updated on our progress. This is not a Championship Event, nor a Open Event and is not receiving official support from FIRST at this time. Again, FIRST is aware of our efforts and is only providing guidance for us to maintain event status as a FIRST Community Event.
5) Given that CDC guidelines, NJ COVID19 regulations, could change at any point there is always the risk that the event may need to be canceled at some date.
6) Because of #5 above, we STRONGLY recommend that all teams make FULLY REFUNDABLE travel arrangements.

2022 and Beyond!

As we close out this first month of 2022, it’s hard to believe that we’re starting our 3rd calendar year of COVID uncertainty, or 4th if you count the end of 2019. Ultimately, these times have proven that people find a way to prevail. From our vantage point, the volunteer robotics community is an amped up group that reflects exactly this spirit of perseverance. At times, the challenges seem bleak, overwhelming, and unforgiving. Our great hope is that through this all, the young minds involved in competitive robotics during this time will be even more inspired to discover, invent, and create solutions make this world a better place than it has been these past three years. In that spirit, we wanted to highlight the success stories of the LRC teams and individuals during this time.

And once again, we wanted to state how especially inspiring it was to see the dozens of parents stepping it up in fall of 2021 to coach & lead fourteen rookie FLL teams with about 100 students!!

Exit 6 Robotics – Innovative Robot Design Award at the FLL Challenge Virtual Open Invitational

After an unusually long FIRST Lego League (FLL) Challenge season spanning 12 months, the Exit 6 Robotics (#2228) team concluded their competition season at the June 12-19, 2021 Virtual Open Invitational (VOI), sponsored by Amazon. In awarding the team the Innovative Robot Design Award, judges cited their novel omniwheel drivetrain that enabled forward and sideways motion. As best they could find, omniwheels had never been previously been implemented in FLL competitions. The team quickly learned why this was the case when they encountered dozens of problems with omniwheel drives.

With FIRST canceling all Open and World Festival events, VOI remained as the only competition venue for top teams from around the world. Ultimately, the best performing teams from 25 countries and 35 states were given invitations to participate. On the basis of their recent North NJ results (Champions Award 2019/2020, Engineering Excellence Award 2020/2021) Exit 6 Robotics was selected as one of three North New Jersey teams offered a spot at VOI.

For the 2021/2022 season, the team has not yet decided whether to compete in FTC, VRC, RCJ, or WRO. The team is also looking for new team members 9th, 10th, or 11th graders to join for the upcoming season. No prior robotics experience required. Candidates can be from any towns nearby Livingston. The only other requirements are a healthy tolerance for failure, a healthy appetite for learning, and a healthy heaping of enthusiasm. Please contact exit6robotics AT gmail.com.

2020-21 North New Jersey FLL Championship Results

Congratulations to all teams participating in this season’s FLL Challenge!

(LRC member teams are shown in bold.)

Award Team Number Team Name Organization Location
Champion’s Award 32581 Flame Machines Family/Community Livingston
Core Values 1st Place 9643 Lego Lords ICS Immaculate Conception School Annandale
Core Values 2nd Place 16131 Robo Technicians Family/Community Ringoes
Innovation Project 1st Place 26362 Montgomery Thundercats Montgomery Upper Middle School Skillman
Innovation Project 2nd Place 51374 BotSmith Family/Community Skillman
Robot Design 1st Place 38213 Orion Family/Community Robbinsville
Robot Design 2nd Place 50904 Lego Dragons Family/Community Edison
Engineering Excellence Award 2228 Exit 6 Robotics Family/Community Livingston
Motivate Award 34957 Robo Rockets Family/Community Montville
Judges’ Award 40458 BOT SQUAD Family/Community Closter
Breakthrough Award 50987 RoboRockets Family/Community Lebanon
Rising All-Star Award 51767 Area14 Robotics Family/Community Bridgewater
Robot Performance 1st Place (520) 25231 Robo Raptors Family/Community Fair Lawn
Robot Performance 2nd Place (485) 38279 TechTitans Applegarth Elementary School Monroe
Coach/Mentor Award Sumit Singh (50904 – Lego Dragons)

Besides the traditional awards (Champion’s, Core Values, Innovation Project, Robot Design, Robot Performance, Judges’, and Coach/Mentor), FIRST introduced several standard awards this season:

  • Engineering Excellence Award: This award celebrates a team with an efficiently designed robot, an innovative project solution that effectively addresses the season challenge and great Core Values evident in all they do.
  • Motivate Award: This award celebrates a team that embraces the culture of FIRST LEGO League through team building, team spirit and displayed enthusiasm.
  • Breakthrough Award: This award celebrates a team that made significant progress in their confidence and capability in both the Robot Game and Innovation Project and are a shining example of excellent Core Values. They demonstrate that they understand that what they discover is more important than what they win.
  • Rising All-Star Award: This award celebrates a team that the judges notice and expect great things from in the future.

2020 North New Jersey FLL Qualifier Results

(Advancing teams, LRC member)

Award Bergen Brickfest Boro-Blast Clifton (MSE) Mt. Olive Warren Hills
Champion’s 45689 – Rocketeers 38279 – TechTitans 25231 – Robo Raptors 32581- Flame Machines
51374 – Team BotSmith
Core Values: 1st Place 30745 – MindsOfSteel 37556 – Robo Kings 50943 – STEAMRollers 26362 – Montgomery Thundercats 38684 – Team Technopath
Core Values: 2nd Place 40458 – BOT SQUAD 26491 – Edgar Team B 37531 – Coding Cougars
Core Values: 3rd Place 45355 – Junior Ironmen Iota
Project: 1st Place 18637 – RoboRocks 2228 – Exit 6 Robotics 34957 – Robo Rockets 26361 – Roboclaws 38213 – Orion
Project: 2nd Place 50926 – Shock Wave 16131 – Robo Technicians 37890 – Atomic
Project: 3rd Place 51136 – Lego Lordz
Robot Design: 1st Place 31328 – Junior Ironmen Delta 44211 – DotBots 48935 – Kreative CRACKERS 50711 – Menlo Sparks 23592 – The ModKnight Dragons
Robot Design: 2nd Place 24628 – Junior Ironmen Alpha 9643 – Lego Lords ICS 50987 – RoboRockets
Robot Design: 3rd Place 50833 – Revolutionary Robotixx
Breakthrough 51389 – Supernova 50904 – Lego Dragons 39130 – The B Team
Motivate 37497 – Robo Crusaders 45493 – Fire Ants
Engineering Excellence 44861 – Team Bolt 51767 – Area14 Robotics
Rising Star 50554 – Super5 51390 – The Spikers 42091 – Team Alpha
Robot Performance: 1st Place 45689 – Rocketeers 16131 – Robo Technicians 25231 – Robot Raptors 32581 – Flame Machines 38213 – Orion
Robot Performance: 2nd Place 40458 – BOT SQUAD 38279 – TechTitans 48935 – Kreative CRACKERS
Robot Performance: 3rd Place 18637 – RoboRocks
(Advancing) 45051 – Robogirls

VEX World Championships – Request for Online Volunteer Judges

If you have some experience with robotics, here’s a great opportunity to volunteer and help with remote judging at the VEX World Championships (VRC & VIQ) this year. Details from the VRC website:

Judges are critical to the scholastic sport of competitive robotics, and we realize the commitment it takes to volunteer as a judge. This year, it will take more dedicated volunteers than ever to make our judging program a success as we have expanded the number of divisions and programs for students.

Please consider volunteering as a remote judge in April and/or May (see below dates) for the Remote VEX Robotics World Championship.

Judging will be conducted online in 3-hour shifts. Judges may volunteer for as many shifts as they are able on the following dates:

We cannot serve our VEX Worlds community of participants without your support. We hope you will join us as a remote judge this year and encourage others within your program to do so as well. Help us spread the word to others with this printable invite, or simply hit the Forward to a Friend button below.

http://us17.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=55f6961f31a43a56f1b0c1879&id=384eed17ff&e=0e84a38728

If you have any questions, please email volunteer@roboticseducation.org. We look forward to seeing you (remotely) at VEX Worlds 2021!

11th Annual LRC FLL Jr Expo: A Virtual Celebration

This time last year, the 10th anniversary of the LRC FIRST LEGO League Junior Expo attracted 50 teams from northern Jersey (https://www.facebook.com/LivingstonRobotics/posts/1077684072427338). That sure was a tough record to beat!
Earlier this year, we started to plan for this year’s Expo with the same fun fair. The highlight would be a “Building Newark” activity to let all teams collaboratively build New Jersey’s largest city on a gigantic map out of 70,000 LEGO bricks.
When the pandemic swept across the entire world, we were certain that the Expo would not happen at all. Boy were we wrong! The Expo host, LRC FLL team Flame Machines, started to plan a virtual Expo while busy collaborating with other kids and adults in the LRC community to redesign face shields for frontline workers (#LivingstonShield https://www.livingstonrobotics.org/livingston-shield/). In the end, 18 teams submitted video presentations and participated in the virtual Expo and award ceremony on the exact day on which the Expo was scheduled.
Read more at our 2020 Expo page.

Our face shield making is in full steam!

Check out our projects related to COVID-19 at our COVID-19 Projects page. You can watch a live stream there. As of April 11, more than 300 face shields have been delivered to the frontline. More to be delivered daily.

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