Guest blessed7 Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I've seen the Lego program but I didn't know if that would be way below his level. I thought I would ask here before shelling out all that money. Can anyone please help me with suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Are you looking for a team? Or something to do as an individual or as a family? My son was involved with an FTC team, or First Tech Challenge, part of the international FIRST robotics organization. The lego leagues are usually only for elementary and middle school grades. I've seen small, family sized, FTC teams in competitions as well as school teams, homeschool teams and scout teams. Another robotics organization to look into is VEX. I've heard good things about them, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 The LEGO Mindstorms really can be used at any age. We have toured a few college robotics labs which use it to introduce robotics to new freshmen, even. If you have younger students who could also use them later, they would be a good choice. There is a brand new system out this fall (Mindstorms EV3,) so you could either have the latest one or you could buy a used system from someone upgrading. If your son wants to compete with his robot, the Mindstorms options are somewhat limited, though (FLL, the competition program for LEGO Mindstorms, is for grades 3-8.) The Cadillac of competitive robotics programs is FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) for high school students. If you are fortunate enough to have a team in your area (and it is open to homeschoolers) that is your first choice. [Mommy brag: My dd just returned from FIRST headquarters because she was named one of the top ten FRC students in the world. So we do love this program. :)] A lower budget option, if you find yourself needing to start your own thing, is FTC. It is very similar to the VEX program (basically VEX used to be the FTC program, but VEX and FIRST split a few years back.) You could build either of these and compete if you choose (http://www.robotevents.com/.) VEX teams are often made up of only 1 or 2 students. My dd coaches a number of middle school and high school VEX teams, and the kids learn a lot. If you don't want to go with an organized or competitive program, you can also just start in with DIY robotics projects. There are many great books and websites with robotics projects. If you want to go that route, let me know and I can ask my dd for recommendations (she lives and breathes robotics *grin*.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blessed7 Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Thank you both for your replies. Jennifer, I think we just want to go the individual route. We live in a very small town and the only robotics team I've heard mention of is in St. Louis, which would be quite a drive for us. I will look into the two links you gave me though and thank you again. Angela, thank you for the info on the Lego Mindstorms. One question, do I need to purchase this first in order for him to use the new EV3. Congrats to your daughter, I would love more info from her on DIY robotics and anymore info she would be willing to share to get us started. much thanks, Dara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Thank you both for your replies. Jennifer, I think we just want to go the individual route. We live in a very small town and the only robotics team I've heard mention of is in St. Louis, which would be quite a drive for us. I will look into the two links you gave me though and thank you again. Angela, thank you for the info on the Lego Mindstorms. One question, do I need to purchase this first in order for him to use the new EV3. Congrats to your daughter, I would love more info from her on DIY robotics and anymore info she would be willing to share to get us started. much thanks, Dara The new EV3 will be a complete kit, so you would just buy that. If cost is an issue, though, you will start seeing the old system (NXT) unloaded as people upgrade this fall. If you have more dc coming up, getting a nice new EV3 if at all possible would be good, though. It really does have quite a few qualities that make it superior to the NXT. If you are near St. Louis, you will need to come watch the FIRST World Championships next year at the Edward Hones dome! Even if you don't compete, they are amazing. They are in mid-April. You could just come for the day Friday and see all levels of competitions (grades K-12.) And I will get dd to write something up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blessed7 Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Thank you Margret this gives me something else to go research. Angela, Thanks again. I had no idea about the FWC being in St. Louis. We will definitely try to make this next year. I'm off to research EV3 and fishertechnik. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 A fun, quick read about FTC is called The New Cool. It isn't great literature, but it does introduce the program pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskra Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 And I will get dd to write something up... Could you please post that in this thread too, so that the rest of us could benefit? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskra Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 A fun, quick read about FTC is called The New Cool. It isn't great literature, but it does introduce the program pretty well. I've tried reading this book twice now and I just can't get myself to finish it. It is really poorly written. This kind of book requires some talent in the area of careful explanation of of the processes of technical building, technical thinking etc, and the author does it so poorly that I really have no idea what he is talking about most of the time when I read his descriptive paragraphs. He seems to lack the skill for doing this kind of writing. Anyone else have similar problems with this book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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