FBI Prepares for the Third Annual Lego Robotics Tournament

December 7th marks the third year that the First Bots of Independence have hosted this now annual Lego robotics tournament. This tournament known as the Annual Robert Clothier Truman Town Tournament is been dedicated to the late Dr. Robert Clothier who was a very gracious supporter of the FBI and what robotics was able to and still provides for students.

This tournament will host 43 middle school First Lego League teams from around the metro and beyond. Also 8 elementary level Jr First Lego League teams will be hosted in there separate competition format.

The middle school FLL teams compete in multiple events thru out the day including three rounds of robot competition and three different presentations that every member of the team must participate in. Believe it or not but this robotics competition is not about robots, but it is designed to give the youth of today an opportunity to develop leadership, soft skills, and a passion for STEM concepts and engineering.

Students, coaches, parents, mentors, and several volunteers will spend two days setting up and running this event with an emphasis on community and potential FBI team members the majority of this event. For the FBI students this is an opportunity for them to shine and show their dedication to FIRST robotics and their desire to explore the world of robotics technology and engineering.

The event is open to the public and we encourage anyone to come out and see the hard working students at work, as ten different local robotics teams from independence will be represented at this event. Doors to the public open at 8 am and the tournament will be hosted at Bingham Middle School.

2013-2014 VanHorn High School’s CIA Robotics First Tech Challenge Team

Come check out Cyberbot at Barnes & Noble on Saturday November 9th from 10:30AM-12:00PM, or at one of our after-school or Saturday practices.

I thought I would share a picture of the 2013-14 Van Horn Cyberbotic Independence Alliance (CIA) FTC® robotics team.  This year’s theme is “Block Party!” in which we earn points by picking up 2″ yellow blocks and placing them in baskets.  In addition, we can earn points performing other tasks around a 12×12′ field.  One of the team’s favorite tasks so far this season is to have Cyberbot (yes, the robot has a name!) reach up, grab a bar, and then pull itself off of the ground.

Indpenendence staff and students check out Cyberbot flexing his pull-up muscles at

S: Van Horn High School > CIA_Robotics > Cyberbot_Pull_Up_Video.  Make sure to have the sound on you computer turned on — it is quite humorous!

If you are interested in knowing more about this year’s FTC robotics season, please check out the official game animation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPIpHSiG4nk.

2014 CIA Robotics FTC Team

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FBI members Train for FIRST

by Jacqueline Stock

On Saturday October 12th a contingent of FBI members traveled to Liberty High School to attend the Massive Mini FIRST Robotics training day. What a great experience the Massive Mini was! The amount of work and effort that was put forth by the Students, Teachers, and Coaches that were there was incredible. It was easy to see that everyone involved was extremely enthusiastic about how robots come together, the importance of safety within the teams, and the advertising a FIRST team needs to promote within the community. I highly recommend that ever rookie team, student, or parent attend this training event to give rookie team members insight on how to start your FIRST experience off right. By interacting with the class presenters or getting advice from other teams, who are more than happy to help, the experience felt more like a community than a competition, which made new teams really feel at home. The free food was also a great aspect of the event!

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FBI Members in attendance: Jacqueline Stock, Jacob Carlton, Eli Freeman, Nick Podia, and Ryan Frazee