All Main Sequence teams, including Nano, volunteer to show off our robots and code to students throughout Helena. We teach and demonstrate how to use Spike Prime robots and often find new team members along the way who share our love for robotics.
Members of Nano volunteer to assist with the setup, organization, running, and teardown of the Festival of Trees. The Festival of Trees is a Helena community event that takes place in December.
As we collect feedback and interview experts, not only do we inquire about their expertise, but we share our designs with them. Even though an expert may specialize in one area, we share our entire innovation project and robot design with them. This helps to spread the word of FLL around our community.
Team Nano shares a practice space with three FTC teams. Throughout the season, we share our project and robot design with these teams. In addition, we partner with them to enhance our knowledge of CAD Design software, 3D Printing, machinery, and media platforms. We have truly learned so much from FTC!
Team Nano embraces STEM with everything we do. Two organizations in the Helena community, STARBASE and ExplorationWorks, focus on spreading STEM to the community. Over the season, we have taken classes from and assisted with teaching in these organizations. We spread the word of FLL and teach students how to use Spike Prime robots.
As we were collecting plastic at our recycling drives, we also created informational posters at each of our collection stations. These posters educated participants on how to handle their plastic after use. While facilitating the drive, Nano also spread the word of FLL and our mission: Make the Sea Plastic Free!
We share our practice space with three other FLL teams. Throughout the season, we have shared python coding, robot engineering design, and innovation project strategies.
Each year, we take our innovation projects and turn them into reality. The Prospects Challenge is centered around students who are creating businesses. Last year, we submitted our business proposal and won an honorable mention in the "New Product" category. This year, we created a business proposal for our plastic collection and recycling organization.
Team Nano assisted one of our sister FTC teams with the Hollis Project. They are adapting a controller for a small RC wheelchair toy for a young boy named Hollis, who has a disability. Team Nano helped Nebula to design this specialized toy.
We also assisted Nebula with their Braille Project. They are designing a simple, cost-efficient version of Braille Assistive Technology. Team Nano helped to CAD design a 3D printed case to enclose the system.
After the State Championships, Team Nano partnered with Montana State University (MSU). One of our judges was a part of MSU's Senior Engineering Capstone class and offered us the chance to present at the MSU Capstone Engineering Design Fair. Team Nano created a booth and presented our innovation project, robot design, and core values to several professors and numerous students. We gained lots of great feedback and experience with poster presentations. In addition to the Engineering Design Fair, MSU hosted a Robotics Expo focusing on innovators and teams from across Montana. Team Nano also presented our designs and ideas to families and other engineering organizations attending the event.
Team Nano presented to the Helena Exchange Club. The Helena Exchange club volunteers and donates to organizations, as well as participates in numerous conferences across the nation. Our presentation included: our project, robot design, core values, and a Q&A session where we received lots of feedback. Thank you for your donation Helena Exchange Club!
After requesting a sponsorship, Team Nano presented to Bison Engineering Inc., an air quality engineering company located both within Montana and across the region. We presented our innovation project, robot design, core values, and even demonstrated the movement of our robot. We received amazing feedback! Thank you Bison Engineering!
Cushing Terrell is a civil engineering firm located in Helena, Montana. After requesting a donation from Cushing Terrell, we presented to them. We shared both our designs and ideas from all components of our innovation project, and explained our Robot Game and Robot Design components. In addition, we shared information about our outreach program and ran an example mission for them. We recieved great feedback . . . thank you so much Cushing Terrell!
After being selected to represent Montana at the Western Edge Open Invitational, Team Nano was asked to be on the news! We took part in multiple interviews, including a filmed and paper segment with KTVH, a Helena news platform. Furthermore, Nano members participated in a state-wide radio interview with the Montana Radio Company. Through all of our news interviews, we focused on sharing our designs, ideas, and spreading the word of FLL.