“The hardest fun you’ll ever have.” — FIRST Robotics slogan

At Carnegie Mellon, waiting for the FIRST Robotics Competition 2012 Kickoff to start. I’m one of the mentors of our new club, the JCP 4H Gears.

Today we will get a box of parts, and we’ll be told the rules of the game that will determine what kind of a robot the kids will need to build.

Last year, robots had to pick up inflated shaped tubes and hang them on posts, and deployed a mini-bot that climbed a pole for extra parts.

Among the kickoff speakers was Linda Ortenzo of the Carnegie Science Center, who promoted STEM jobs, and also STEAM (adding in “a” for “arts”).

Branden Plesh, “You can be competitive and still be good friends with everyone there.”