Sometimes it can be hard being the new kid in town. You have to learn your way around, you have to learn the rules of the area and get to know people, all in a short period of time. When you add engineering into the equation it only gets more difficult.
That isn't slowing down rookie FTC team Robotic Bacon Eating Narwhals. This team, the first we have seen with a 5 digit team number, is confident about their capabilities and even brought a fully functional robot to the scrimmage, while many established teams did not.
Despite some of the difficulties of this year's game, the kids are excited about aprticipating, and believe they can be competitive at the local and state levels. We spoke with Picabo Lesh about why she got involved with FIRST, her experiences so far and how the team is doing thus far.
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.