Last weekend Wissahickon High School Robotics Team #341 participated in “Robotstock Philly”, a robotics-themed expo geared towards interactive family fun. The team had a blast playing exhibition matches of the 2019 game with our competition robot. Members of the team from all subteams were able to try their hand at driving and operating our robot in a low-pressure environment. The crowds that came had the opportunity to see our main robot in action.

The most important contribution to Robotstock was  Sparky’s Robot World community outreach project. Sparky’s project has been around for quite some time but this event was a great motivator to take it to the next level. In the last couple of weeks the team completed our control system upgrades, designed and wired brand new controllers, developed an actual surface and field border for the robots to operate on, implemented a ball corral system, decorated the robots with refreshed artwork, and, possibly most importantly, designed and constructed brand new “hoop” goals for the robots to shoot into. Students and adults alike loved using the new controllers to shoot balls into these hoops and every participant walked away with their very own “Robot Drivers License.”

The event organizers had 2,000 pre-sale tickets and team members spoke with visitors throughout the 15 hours we spent at the Greater Philadelphia Convention Center in Oaks,. On Sunday, team members were able to meet June Robbins, a real-life “Rosie the Riveter”. At 92 years old, it was inspiring to hear her speak about her life experiences. June happened to pop by the competition field when our robot was playing and we invited her to drive “Miss Daisy”. She had a blast and was able to speak with some of the young women on our team. Also on Sunday, our very own coach, Kara Bakowski, delivered two awesome talks about how steel is made, based on her experiences as a Metallurgical Engineer at ArcelorMittal, a steel manufacturing company.