Diary of an Innovator Team Dragon Racers reflect on their season, look ahead to SUBMERGED
May 29, 2024
During the 2023-2024 FIRST® in SHOWSM presented by Qualcomm season, we followed four FIRST® LEGO® League, four FIRST® Tech Challenge, and four FIRST® Robotics Competition Diary of an Innovator teams to learn about their season experiences and the culture of innovation their team has created.
This post is by Team Uniqorn Dreamers from Acton, MA USA.
Q: Did your experience during MASTERPIECESM make you think differently about robotics, STEM, engineering, and/or the arts?
A: Yes, this season's experience has impacted our perspective and thinking of the arts. We discovered a huge gap in the arts that we didn't know was there and we also saw a huge display of teamwork and the ✨magic✨ behind the scenes in theater productions. We’ve learned a lot about building attachments, circuitry, coding, 3D printing, and building navigation.
Q: Has it changed the way you think about college or careers?A: We all have our dreams, and what we want to be when we grow up! This experience with FIRST LEGO League has taught us new skills and expanded our knowledge base which supports our dreams and careers that we will have one day.
Q: How has it impacted your thinking about teamwork?
A: This season showed us how sophisticated and amazing teamwork can be! We grew as a team and learned to work together and resolve differences better. Throughout this season we have noticed a lot of teamwork in theater production and it's amazing! The Open Door Theater in Acton-Boxborough, MA, USA, perfectly executes the core value of teamwork! We were glad to collaborate with them this MASTERPIECE season!
Q: What has been your biggest surprise from the MASTERPIECE season?
A: The biggest surprise from the MASTERPIECE season was doing as well as we did this season. We were not expecting to win second place in the ENTIRE state of Massachusetts out of over 500 teams. After our less-than-perfect performance last year, our success was a pleasant surprise to us and gave us just the right boost we needed for motivating us to do better next year.
Q: What will you take away from the experience?
A: One thing we will take away from this experience is the joy of meeting new people and seeing our Innovation Project improving disabled actors’ lives and experience while performing on the stage. We loved seeing something we created make a change in people’s lives.
Q: What will you repeat as a good strategy?
A: One thing we will repeat as a good strategy is making sure our wheels are clean. The best robot performance depends heavily on the clean line of the wheels. Cleaning the wheels would make or break a run. Simple, easy and yet incredibly effective strategy.
Q: What is the best part about participating in FIRST LEGO League?
A: The best part about FIRST LEGO League is getting to meet different experts. Every single year, depending on the theme, we get to meet new people and learn about many things spoken from experts in that category, and make an Innovation Project and show it to others. This overall experience is exciting and informative to people, especially since we get to talk to other kids and/or adults about our project, and how it impacts the world.
Q: What part of the experience is the most fun?
A: The part of the experience that is the most fun is interacting with other teams, whether from right here in Massachusetts, or from other countries. Every year, during the play-offs, sometimes different teams get to interact with each other, showing off their robots and Innovation Projects to one another, and learning about other teams’ Projects. Since each team has such diverse ideas, it’s fun learning about each and every team’s idea.
Q: What was most rewarding?
A: The most rewarding part was that sometimes, our Project could help change the world. By explaining it to others and getting expert’s feedback, it is rewarding knowing that our Project could make a difference in the world and could help benefit some people.
Q: How did your team celebrate their accomplishments this season?
A: After an accomplishment, like winning the second-place Champion’s Award at the 2024 Massachusetts State Championship at WPI, we always celebrate with bubble tea. This has become a tradition. We normally go for dinner and bubble tea to bond, relax, and reflect after a long day.
Q: Looking back, do you think you came a long way?
A: This season we demonstrated a significant growth in skills and team bonding. We learned Micro Python and Circuit Python coding, and new algorithms for robot design. Our team dynamics improved significantly. A year ago, our team had not won any awards or seen success in any competition. We were struggling with the reliability of our robot attachments too. However, this year, after months of hard work and preparation, we won two medals at the qualifiers, got into the state championship, won two awards for robot design and 2nd place Champion’s Award, and qualified for the WAFFLE Open, where we also won an award.
Q: Are you planning to do FIRST LEGO League or another FIRST program next season?
A: Currently, we are planning to continue with FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge because all our team members are under the eighth grade. Until then, hold on to your LEGO, FLL; the Uniqorn Dreamers are coming!
Congratulations to the Uniqorn Dreamers on a successful, innovative, and fun season!
Learn more about the upcoming FIRST LEGO League SUBMERGEDSM Challenge (part of the 2024-2025 FIRST® DIVESM presented by Qualcomm season) here: https://info.firstinspires.org/first-dive.