Trip to High School Robotics Regional Championship

Editor's note: Today we introduce Parent Excursions. Los Altos Patch ran into Parke Ballantine outside the Los Altos Library. She'd just picked up her son at preschool nearby. We got to talking about what parents do when the local park has become too-familiar territory. Ballantine, it turned out, regularly looks for adventures she and her family could have, all within driving range. In fact, she was a compendium of ideas for families looking for cool things to do. If it looks interesting, and if her "ever-in motion" Honda Civic can get there and back in a day, they're there (the dashboard is pictured here!).

Expect to see this feature regularly, and follow Parke and her family as they explore.

My family and I are new to California, new to the Bay Area and relatively new to parenting.  More often than not, we find ourselves in the midst of a new-parent California Bay Area adventure. Here is a trip that we took to a high school robotics championship.

You might have seen the robotics championship covered on CNN. Did you ever wonder how the teams got chosen for the championship? Well, no, me neither, but I found out all about it that weekend. My husband, 5-year-old son and I went to the "FIRST" Robotics Competition, or as they bill it, "the varsity sport for the mind."

The competition was the vision of Segway inventor, Dean Kamen, as a way to inspire kids to be science and technology leaders through mentoring programs "that build science, engineering and technology skills."

It was a pretty loud event.  We got to watch the action in the robotics ring, where the high-school-aged teams duke it out with their robots, with a background of cheering. As with any first time watching a new sport, it took some discussion to figure out the rules and objectives of the game  but once we figured it out, our son was in there rooting for the teams he wanted to win.  

A little bit about the robots: These robots were designed by the teams to perform a set of key tasks (in this case, lifting inner-tubes six or eight feet into the air to hang them on pegs). Each robot was a unique creation—four wheeled, six wheeled, each with its own strategy for lifting inner tubes.

We had a great time visiting the "pits." Much like a car race, there was a separate place for the teams to work on and fix their robots. Each of the team members we spoke to was extremely enthusiastic—and happy to talk about the choices they had made in designing and building their robots. Also, teams passed out buttons and stickers with their team and sponsor names and logos. Very fun for our 5-year-old.

Outside of the main arena, there were demonstrations of smaller robots that you could drive yourself. There was information about competitions with these smaller robots (such as LEGO robotics competitions).

We went to see a friend's daughter compete with her Girl Scout robotics team, the "Space Cookies." Our son had a great time cheering for their robot, and he also had a great time picking out other favorites (such as one with big, white teeth).

Basics

Location: San Jose State Event Center.
Cost: Free
Parking: We were able to park in the garage across the street for $10.
Food: Arena food inside; many people had picnics at lunchtime outside.

More information: Go to usfirst.org for more about the program and how to get involved

For a focus on Silicon Valley regional robotics: firstsv.org.

For competition much like what we saw, except for kids grades four-eight: firstlegoleague.org.

How to get involved in a robotics team in Northern California: norcalfll.org. Registration is open from May to September. The tournament season starts in November, with the championships in St. Louis, MO.