Teaching students about problem-solving, engineering, and source code
“The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year’s game that weigh up to 125 pounds (57 kg). Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, placing inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes annually”
“FIRST Robotics Competition.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 May. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Robotics_Competition.
Mentoring
I am a volunteer software engineering mentor for a FIRST Robotics Competition team.
My responsibilities include teaching students about designing written documentation for robotic systems, organizing programming contributions using version control (Git/GitHub), and participating in SCRUM-like practices such as daily stand-up meetings and project retrospectives.
The students on the team design and build a new robot every year. I provide feedback during the design process. This can range from assisting the younger students with math, to pointing out logistical difficulties in a potential concept.
Once the robot has been built, it is my responsibility to assist the programmers in designing, implementing, and testing the code base used to control the robot and manipulate the various actuators.
