On April 30th "The Radioactive Flaming Blue Ninja Kitties" headed inshore for the Annual Maine Robotics Track Meet. This is a state-wide competition for kids grades 3-8, to promote the fun of science and technology. It is specifically geared for small teams of 10 or less so it is a perfect fit for our team of four --> Gabriel, Dalton, Arlo and Quinn!
Friday afternoon, before the big day, we relaxed and took a tour of the Farnsworth Museum.
Here's Gabe next to his favorite piece of art by Louise Nevelson!
Dalton is somewhere in this photograph!
Quinn fits right into this scene. Brrr.....
Arlo liked this beautiful outdoor sculpture...
After a good nights sleep we headed for Auburn and arrived bright an early at the Middle School to check in. Look at those happy morning faces!!!
15 teams from around the state were there - over 100 kids!
We lucked out and were first up in most entries. Right away Arlo and Gabe were off to compete at the same time. Here's a video of Arlo's slope climber robot in action!!!!
Here's Gabe nearby setting up his Robot for the weight pull competition. He was allowed to use 1 or 2 soda cans to help with traction.
Pull!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A little later Dalton competed in fastest Robot:
And then we were first up again! It was a fantastic team effort as Dalton and his robot competed in the Ping Pong Shot-Put Competition!!!!
Way to Go Radioactive Blue Flaming Ninja Kitties! I was a very proud coach!!!! Afterwards, we had to watch and wait as one by one the other competitors tried to match Dalton's score of 77 points! We were pretty psyched!!!!!!!!
After a crazy, exciting, hectic, loud, fun filled morning - the team had lunch and a little outside R & R:
Then it was time for Quinn and his Lego Bridge!!!!!!! He handed it off to Tom, the cool guy who organizes all the Maine Lego Robotics events.
Here's Quinn and Arlo watching:
Wow! What a day! We all had so much fun and learned a lot. Now it was time for the closing ceremonies. Just as we suspected... Dalton got first!
Here's Dalton with his First Place trophy and his amazing Ping Pong Shot-Put Robot!!! He also achieved gold standard for his fastest robot. Go Dalton!
My favorite moment at the Meet was right after Dalton's winning round, he pulled the whole team aside and thanked them and gave them rewards for helping him.
THAT's what our team is all about!
We celebrated with dinner at Moody's (of course!) and then we saw the movie "Clash of the Titans" Woot! Best Weekend Ever!!!!!!!!!!
Gabe is off to Hebron next year, and our team will miss him, but we know he'll go far!!!!!!!!!!! We'll miss you Gabe!
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