iHub Hosts Robotics Retreat to Empower Young Innovators

On October 11, 2023, the iHub in Northeast Nebraska hosted a TEAMwork Robotics Retreat aimed at middle school teams participating in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL). Five teams took part in the event, which focused on enhancing their skills in areas critical to the competition, including teamwork, engineering, and leadership.

The day began with local leaders facilitating morning sessions that emphasized essential skills such as public speaking and leadership. Through engaging activities, students collaborated to tackle challenges that included constructing a tower using spaghetti strands and marshmallows. These hands-on experiences aimed to foster teamwork and creative problem-solving among participants.

As the day progressed, teams delved into the technical aspects of the FIRST LEGO League program. Experienced volunteers, coaches, and FLL alumni led sessions designed to improve participants’ programming skills, robot design, and the use of engineering notebooks and sensors. This portion of the retreat allowed students to gain deeper insights into the technical challenges they would face throughout the season.

Henry Goeden, a robotics trainer at Northeast Community College, expressed the goal of the retreat: “We wanted to provide this opportunity for newer teams to engage with each other and build skills to elevate their competitiveness in FIRST LEGO League. FLL is an incredible program that helps students develop both leadership and technical skills, and we hope providing opportunities like this will help it continue to grow and become more accessible to young people.”

The retreat also included sessions for coaches, providing them with a platform to share ideas and learn from their more experienced counterparts. Goeden noted that these interactions boost new coaches’ confidence, which is vital for the overall success of the teams.

As the season progresses, participating teams will continue to build and program their LEGO robots while developing innovation projects that address real-world challenges faced by professional scientists and engineers. This year’s theme, Unearthed, centers around archaeology, encouraging teams to explore and innovate within this fascinating field.

In a few months, teams will reconvene for a regional mini-play tournament before heading to Lincoln in March for the FLL state championship, hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The retreat not only provided essential skills and knowledge but also laid the foundation for a collaborative and innovative robotics season ahead.