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Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland

Community Event, Ferret Nation, Off-Season

Are those what I think they are? Reindeer droppings…really?

Every year, during the evenings of the second Friday and Saturday of December, Anacortes Robotics Teams participate in the Winter Wonderland Walk at Washington Park as part of their Community Outreach efforts. As Experience Anacortes explains it, “Local service groups, clubs, businesses and families sign up to decorate campsites with festive lights and holiday cheer.” Throughout the event, robotics students make and hand out free doughnuts, affectionately known as “reindeer droppings.” This gives robotics students the opportunity to chat with members of the community about the Anacortes Robotics program. The teams also set up displays of some of the previous seasons’ robots underneath pavilions decorated with Christmas lights.

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The Winter Wonderland Walk is a way to get the Anacortes Robotics name out into the community, along with all of the other events that the Anacortes Robotics Teams participate in – the Waterfront Festival, the Workboat Races, and the Fourth of July Parade, among others. Another benefit of the Winter Wonderland Walk specifically is that it can be used to recruit possible future team members. The FIRST Lego League and the FIRST Tech Challenge seasons are in the competition phase, but the FIRST Robotics Challenge season has not begun yet, and teams can still register for the FIRST Lego League Jr. season because the season is so flexible – they have expositions instead of competitions. This means that the teams can recruit possible future team members for FRC and FLL Jr. at the event. Most of the other events happen in the summer, so it can be difficult to recruit future team members because none of the seasons will begin reasonably soon after the event.

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Every year, the Winter Wonderland Walk draws more and more people. People come from all around Skagit County to see the different displays, which includes our own display, a Whoville display, a Shell fire engine, and the Boy Scouts’ campfires with s’mores. The event has even started drawing people from other communities, which means that even though the Anacortes Robotics teams are somewhat isolated from other robotics team organizations, people on other robotics teams are coming to the event. This year, members of at least two other FRC teams found their way to our display: Whidbey Island Wildcats Team 2980 and Aluminati Team 5495 out of Snohomish.

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The Anacortes Robotics teams look forward to seeing even more people walking in Anacortes’ very own winter wonderland and munching on reindeer droppings next year!

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Safety FIRST

FRC, Pre Build, Safety

img_2919safetyblogSmashed thumbs, foreign objects in eyes, amputated digits: all injuries easy to prevent with proper procedures, which is why Anacortes FIRST Robotics team members participate in Safety Week before the kickoff of the Build Season.

In mid-December, about two dozen students met for seven hours to learn how to safely operate hand tools and electric equipment in the metals shop. Mr. Boyce, Metals Teacher and Robotics Metals Shop Mentor, taught the class. The same group learned the importance of adequate rest and the proper mindset in order to avoid mental distractions that can increase the likelihood of engaging in behaviors that can result in accidents.

img_2892safetyblogThe Scope of the FIRST Safety Manual states, “This safety manual is an easy-to-use guide for important safety information and provides FIRST Robotics Competition participants with a basic set of requirements to maintain a safe environment during the build season and at competition events.” It includes guidelines for eye and face protection, hand protection, mechanical guards, hearing protection, foot protection, and other preventatives. Anyone who has attended a FIRST Robotics event learns firsthand the importance of safety to the organization. For example, persons are not allowed to enter the Pit without adequate eye protection.

Kathryn Coryell, Anacortes FIRST Robotics’ Safety Captain for the 2017 season, reports that the Safety Committee will hold Saturday safety sessions. The first one will be held on 14 January, the second week of the build season. Mr. Boyce and Mr. Calvert, Metals Shop Mentor, will discuss personal protective equipment, including eye and ear protection as well as back braces drivers wear when they lift and carry the (120 pound) robot. Other discussion topics include general health during flu season and battery acid spill cleanup.

One of the eight FIRST Robotics Awards “Based on Team Attributes” is the Industrial Safety Award Sponsored by UL, which “Celebrates the team that progresses beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to eliminate or protect against hazards.” Guidelines suggest, “The Safety Advisors will focus on the combination of individual and team safety behaviors and safe physical conditions along with their safety outreach to other teams.”

img_2887safetyblogCoryell says that this year the Safety Committee plans to focus on injury tracking and safety outreach. As part of their focus on outreach, the Cyborg Ferrets held a CPR and First Aid Certification class for FRC and FTC team members and invited two local teams to participate. Members of the Whidbey Island Wildcats Robotics Club and the Mount Vernon High School Robotics Team attended. She said the goal this year is to continue to improve the Anacortes FIRST Robotics safety program, “Winning the Industrial Safety Award at Worlds this year would be the icing on the cake!”