Outreach

This year, we spread the importance of FIRST Robotics by visiting various libraries and museums in our local community and in San Diego. We were able to expose over 2500 kids to robotics at events such as EXPO Day, the Fleet Science Museum, Rancho Bernardo, Mira Mesa, and Carmel Valley Library.

At the venues, most of the kids were young. We showcased our old EV3 robots and the pre-existing programs within them. Each program had a different function, and we explained what the robot did in the program and the different sensors used. To keep some of the kids engaged, we even let them give cones to our robot when it came close to them, and then the robot would drop it off onto the poles.

Many parents and kids showed interest in robotics, so we offered to start robotic camps to teach building and programming skills. We're also considering starting an FLL team and mentoring kids so they can learn the basics of programming and building.

In the future, we hope to spread our outreach efforts to lower education areas in San Diego by visiting schools and inspiring kids to pursue robotics by showcasing our robots and programs and letting them build and program our robots. We are also holding a robotics merit badge session for scouts to earn the robotics merit badge while learning, building, and programming robots.

Carmel Valley Library

During our first session at the library, we weren't sure what to expect in terms of how many people would show up. The reservation was intended to be public, but it turned out to be private. Since no one else was there, we had to do our own marketing and bring several kids into the library. In the end, it wasn't too bad as 20 people showed up to listen to what we had to say. We demonstrated robotics to the kids and parents and showcased our past FLL Robots.

Mira Mesa Library

At our 2nd session at the library, we did some our marketing beforehand. We put a flyer on Nextdoor about our timings of our session, and people who saw the post showed up. Like last time, we gave a demo of our robot, and showed last years mission. We also talked about teams that their kid can join based on their age whether its FLL, FTC, or FRC.

Rancho Bernardo Library

During our third session at the library, we continued to market our event by putting up flyers on Nextdoor, announcing the timing of our session. As a result, more people showed up. Like last time, we provided a demo of our robot and showcased last year's mission. We also discussed the different teams that kids could join based on their age, and explained how each of those competitions would work.

Fleet Science Museum

We showcased our outreach efforts locally by attending the Fleet Science Museum. It was our second-largest venue, with over 500 people visiting our booth. We showcased our competition videos, explained the benefits of FIRST (such as gaining skills in engineering and programming), and gave a tour of our FLL and FTC robots. We plan to visit the museum again in the future.

EXPO Day

We showcased our outreach efforts in San Diego by participating in EXPO Day, one of our biggest venues with over 2,500 people visiting our booth. Although it was exhausting, it was also a lot of fun. We exhibited our competition robot and allowed some of the older kids to control our prototype robot. Additionally, we demonstrated our EV3 robots, previous programs, and the functions of various sensors. Through this event, we were able to introduce many children to the world of robotics, and both parents and kids expressed interest in getting involved.