Well, as a few of our members returned to the Doghouse from a presentation at our school’s STEM fair tonight, many found cars following them all the way from the high school. Five students all at the same time, all in their own cars! Maybe we should work on carpooling next time.

As we walked into the Doghouse, there was a weird scent, sort of like paint. Turns out it was coming from the battery charging station. We’ve got a bad battery! But which one is it?! That’s what we’re trying to find out. We moved the batteries outside to air out the computer room. Hopefully it’s only one bad battery.

Safety manual continues to be updated – rule revisions, additions, it now includes FIRST Aid. We’ll be even more prepared this season. We’ve had our first injury of the season. Collin got a tiny little cut on his pinky. So we washed it up, and put a light blue band-aid over it. He’s fine! Although he sure wasn’t thrilled with the bandage color.

Mary’s birthday was today! Wow, another one! When will the next one be?

The main Swartdog showing off his new hat from the STEM Fair with John Deere.

Ryan and Dakota testing out batteries after one went bad. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack!

Keaton sporting his new hat from John Deere at the STEM fair.

Anyway, back to the STEM fair. It was a great night where many families in the community came out to check out the programming we have with PLTW, our FIRST teams, and meet with many professionals in the area. Check out the nifty hats we got from John Deere in the pictures above! We were also filmed by a local news station, so we’re keeping our eyes out for when that shows. We also spent quite a bit of time talking to the new Superintendent! We’re so glad he’s such a strong supporter of STEM!

Update of what else is going on in the build site: programmers are working on “the real work.” AKA a targeting code! CAD people are designing the robot as usual.  Our brand new freshmen animators are learning how to use the program. We’re including the teapot as always in our animations. The pyramid is being built.

The main twitter topic for FRC teams today was to finish the sentence “During build season, I never leave home without…” So we asked some of our students this. We got answers like cubes, safety glasses, food, caffeine, a wrench, a lack of sleep, sarcasm, and laptops. But our favorites had to when students answered GP!

Another important thing to mention about a mentor of ours… Mary the mentor is recovering from surgery on her foot and is unable to come out to the Doghouse for a while but is always communicating through email to find ways she can help! We wish you well and that you heal quickly. We miss you!

Good luck teams! And don’t forget your GP!