Our Mission
Program Overview
Problem: Many robotics clubs in the region are parent lead clubs that often times do not have any direct support. Navigating the FIRST challenge program for new parents/clubs can be jarring and difficult to prepare for.
Solution: Unity Robotics works with schools and local FIRST community to establish an immersive mentoring program introducing students to First Lego League Challenge, a robotics program designed to teach students technical and soft skills. Unity Robotics handles aspects of the program including team creation, training, mentoring, and more!
What We Do
Create
Advertising and collecting contact info
School newsletters
Flyers
School Demos
Organizing interested students into teams
Prepare
We’ll be giving both students and their parents presentations on what exactly to expect, what exactly they’ll be doing, and how much effort they’ll be investing
Student clubs can start meeting and reviewing prepared materials to keep students engaged
Establish communication
Ex. Group chat, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, etc.
Unity Robotics will connect Mentors from local FTC teams to come in and help during this time
Plan for weekly meetings
We will have a general parent meeting
Run down of upcoming dates and general season structure
Train
We’ll also be teaching the teams mechanical and software skills
Sensors, attachments, and everything in between!
In July, we'll be hosting a week long Summer Camp, setting them up with everything with activities including technical exercises, core values, and the Engineering Design Process
Support
During the actual season, we’ll continue to support the teams
Directly mentoring
Connecting them with a knowledgeable mentor
Introducing technical and financial resources
Ensure they're aware of important dates
We'll host a mock tournament prior to competition
Ensure the teams know what to expect
Get a chance to test robots
Timeline
April/May
This is the beginning of the process, where we reach out to interested students and explain to them and their parents what FLL and Unity Robotics are and what they'll be doing. We'll also start to organize teams.
May/June
By this time, teams have been finalized and it's time to get teams ready logistically through registering them, establish a parent as their coach, and ensure they have communications set up.
June/July
This is when we prepare the students, ordering kits for them to familiarize themselves with, organizing a summer camp for them to learn technical and soft skills, as well as setting them up with their mentors.
Aug-April
In August, the FLL season is announced. In October, Unity Robotics will host a mock tournament to prepare teams for qualifiers. Based on their performance, teams will continue to advance, potentially even making it to the World Championships.
The Season
This is briefly explained in the August - April section of the timeline, but here are some more details:
August
Season is Announced
Reveals game (tasks the robot does for points) for the year
Register teams for Qualifiers
October
Mock Tournament
November
Qualifiers
December
Regionals
Championships
April
World Championships
Impact
Unity Robotics encourages students to use critical thinking and become independent explorers. We plan to help students develop time management and communication skills as well as learn how to collaborate as a team. FLL robotics will teach students the importance of values such as coopertition and gracious professionalism, and also give them a valuable early hands-on robotics experience. We hope to teach students fundamental skills that will most be useful throughout their academic and professional careers.
