On Thursday (4/24), one of our students and DaTwan had to wake early to attend a Hall Of Fame discussion. It was nice interacting with other teams to discuss the HOF, FIRST, and ways of improving. We had a few kinks in our robot, but we were in good company. Other teams seemed to be having some issues as well. As soon as our kids started getting down, it was time to eat again. Paul did fantastic job picking out a restaurant that picked the students spirits up. That afternoon Linda was invited for a panel discussion on Women in FIRST and in Engineering. Most of our team was there to support her, and similar to the panel the day before, she was bombarded with questions. Afterwards, we went right back to competing. When we weren’t competing, students got a chance to do what I consider as the most important part of the trip: students were able to meet vendors who were showcasing technology, and getting information on colleges and college scholarships. We ended the day with another fabulous meal.

Links to the 2014 World Robotics Competition:

1) Day 1 & 2, 2) Day 3, 3) Day 4, 4) Day 5 - Finals, 5) Day 5 - Party

Tarith, Evan, Mason and Maura are waiting for the next match in the X-Cats' pit

Ellie and James are scouting

Team 3015

Team 3478 from Mexico

Pink team from Netherlands

Power magnetic coupling at a distance

Students from Taiwan

Student from United Kingdom

Team from Colombia

Students from Philippines

CIA's robots

Colorful outfit

X-Cats 191 is in autonomous mode

X-Cats and alliance

Chau, DaTwan, Tarith and Evan

X-Cats 191 is catching ball

What a surprise! Scott, Susan and Chau meet during lunch in St. Louis

It's time for lunch

Linda speaks at Women in STEM

X-Cats 191 throws ball

X-Cats 191 robot loads ball

X-Cats robot is  throwing a red ball over a truss

I am taking a picture of myself on a big TV screen :-)