December-08-2011

     On Saturday Carl Hayden hosted the First Lego competition, there were I believe 33 groups from different schools across Arizona. My job was to lead the teams to their destinations, at first I was in charge of 3 teams, I chose to do that because I saw how some teams that didn't have a person to guide them struggled in finding the rooms, due to that some were not correctly labeled, they had a different name. It wasn't a lot of work for me after a while because my main team after a while of being lead to the rooms, they already had an idea on where to go, and even sometimes left without me. Running up and down the stairs did get a little exhausting after a few runs but it was worth it at the end when the teams received metals and or a trophy.
    Tuesday after school was when we set up the tables for the science fair, that was also a back breaking job for me because I'm not accustomed to carrying that much weight, since I don't have much muscle. Yesterday seeing all the projects set up, made me think that we really did a great job at arranging the tables, there was little to no traffic trying to get in the doors when students came in. I think they did a great job at choosing were to display them though, because they were set up in the hallways all the students when they pass by can take a look at them.

Night before Lego League 12-02-2011

Today we set up everything for F.I.R.S.T Lego league which is tomorrow. We worked on posters, and hung them in the appropriate places and folded ASU t-shirts. We had a meeting in the play room and while eating pizza ledge explained to us our plans for tomorrow. He also explained what we should expect and what has happened in past that we should or should not do. Ledge also said how we should definitely be on time in the morning, because we still have some stuff to do, such as setting up. Hopefully tomorrrow will go smoothly with no problems or distractions.

November 16, 2011

Yesterday and a few days before that we began to work on things for L.E.G.I.T, my role is the Photographer and to work on mechanical. Valaria is going to teach me the basics on doing the mechanical work, because as a photographer I would need another job to actually contribute to the group, I'm also thinking about doing Electrical, because when we did the electrical workshop I found it kind of fascinating and I enjoyed working on the robot. What I'm going to do next is make sure to take pictures of when the group is working, then I will upload them on the computer and edit some, add more color, crop, simple things like that. Afterwards I will send them To Valeria so she can upload them on the L.E.G.I.T website for others to see our progress and what we have been doing. So far the only pictures I have edited was the picture of the underwater robot.

November-10-2011

      Today there was going to be a scrimmage for this competition that is going to be held in December, but   today is is practice so we are aware and have an idea of what are duties are for that day. When I got there and the hallway was full with kids from middle schools, I didn't think there were going to be so many, I just anticipated there were going to be about four teams, but I was way wrong! After watching them compete close to the end I was very surprised of how much spirit the team from A.S.U had. They were jumping up and down screaming "A.S.U! A.S.U!" And somehow that did help in a way because everything somehow dropped into place like how they would want it to end like. I was also very flabbergasted of how young they are yet they seem to have much experience with setting up the robot and knowing what it's supposed to do. Even when I was passing in the hallways students weren't playing around most of the time, they were huddled around their robot talking about their next strategy and what they should do to succeed. The kids also seemed very involved and seemed as they had a passion for what they are doing. Some parents also seemed proud of what their kids have accomplished, they were smiling and taking pictures of the event as their kids competed.

October-27-2011

    On Monday when we had the meeting after school, Lajvardi explained to us about the next underwater robot competition the team is going to attend. First he explained what the task was that the robot had to accomplish, and all the different scenarios that can happen, or are supposed to happen while driving the robot. We were also told that for the competition we had to portray a certain role in the beginning. Lejvardi said he choose to do the 'X Files' and that two people are going to have to play the role of Mulder and Skully.

    Yesterday, we completed most of what had to be done with the robot. In my opinion things go more smoothly when Lajavardi is the one that is showing us how to do it, because not only does he show you, but he actually gives you tasks to do, so you won't just be standing there watching him doing all the work. Since it was going faster, it was much easier to comprehend were everything goes and how it works. Honestly, I think I learned more yesterday than the other days combined.

October-20-2011

On Tuesday, we had the Resume Workshop. In the presentation there was much information that I wasn't aware of that you had to put on your resume, for example I didn't know that it was required for you to put your GPA in it, but now thinking about it, it makes sense, it would be best for your employer to be aware about how intelligent you are, which also would also increase your chances of obtaining a job. Bianca also explained to us how short an interview usually is, and because of that you have to keep your resume to a minimum of one page. To go along with that there are certain fonts that would be more appropriate for a resume, such as fonts that are easy to read usually Times New Roman, and the text should not be that small or large, usually a 12 font with one inch margins. Included in the presentation it also said that we can include a picture of yourself, but make it appropriate.

Networking Workshop

In one article that someone posted was that they didn't understand why an all girl's club in robotics would be viewed as 'exclusive', if i were to respond i would say it's because engineering is mostly a male dominant job and to have an all girls team competing against teams that have both male and female is pretty inspiring. In my theory, the engineering field is in need of more females.

09-22-10 Programming Workshop

Today was the second day in the Workshop to learn the basics on how to program. The first day, I was introduced to a program on the computer which I have never heard about, but after a while I kind of grasped the idea on how it works. I learned the purpose of some buttons, but others I didn't have a clear idea on how they worked, but the instructions helped a little. Though at the end, when there were weren't any instructions, well... that's when I needed some help. Now I understand that programming plays a big role in Robotics, it's pretty much responsible for the whole robot.

7-14-2011

             Yesterday we did the 'Electrical Workshop', there was a presentation on Prezi about the different kinds of terms and vocabulary we should know before starting on anything. It was mostly on different currents of electricity and the different names for them.

8-23-11

Yesterday in Robotics we saw a video about 'The Chairman's Award' in the video the first thing that really struck me as unfair was about the girl who said that she stayed after school for Robotics and when she told her father about it, he didn't believe her, he thought that she wasn't staying to build robots, she stayed to meet boys. Also her father strongly believed that women should not be in engineering and construction, that it was a job for a man. Only until she took him to one of her interviews to get a job he believed that she was actually doing this and was interested in it. That astonished me, to see that people living in this generation still had that kind of mentality, to still believe that women couldn't do certain jobs just because they were 'woman' and were viewed as weaker.

8-18-11

       Yesterday was my first day staying afters school for Robotics, I also stayed to be a Lego Referee. In that meeting for the lego referee, they explained some rules from the lego competition but they did not guarantee that those rules will stay the same. They also said that in the competition they rules tend to change a lot, we can't print them out because it will be a waste of paper, that's how often they change the rules. That part concerned me a bit, I don't have the best memory, and I'm afraid that I might not be able to memorize some of the rules. Afterward we had to gather in the hall way and they talked about the camping trip that is coming up, also about [i believe] Dean Kamen is coming to Phoenix and the team wants to go attend that. After that, we came back in and I started working on the project we had to start on.

Week

This is my first post, I'm currently in Science Seminar. I've been watching videos of the team, and their achievements over the past years. It was very inspiring how they can compete against schools that more wealthier, and enter a competition against them and yet that advantage doesn't help them much. I think I'm interested at the moment on being in mechanical and video editing. I hope to get more active in Robotics, and hopefully I become an important member in this group.