We recently had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Kevin Schlegel and the Pal-Mac robotics team as they prepare for the FIRST Finger Lakes Robotics Competition at Rochester Institute of Technology coming up on Thurs. March 24 – Sat. March 26. We were lucky to have the opportunity to ask Kevin about some highlights of his experiences of working with the group.
What is your role with the Pal-Mac robotics team, and how long have you been involved?
My role for the robotics team is lead mentor/contact. I am responsible for overseeing everything that happens with the team. I have been lead mentor for the last 5 years and have been part of the team for 6.
What does a typical after school team meeting consist of? This all depends on the time of year. During the off-season we typically meet 1-2 times every other week. It all depends on what the kids have cooking as far as ideas on community service or continuing education. During the build season we work from 2:30 to 9 p.m. two days a week, 2:30 to 5 p.m. two days a week, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m. depends on what needs to get done for that day. Some meetings will be group collaboration, and others are total organized chaos (which is awesome).
What is your role with the Pal-Mac robotics team, and how long have you been involved?
My role for the robotics team is lead mentor/contact. I am responsible for overseeing everything that happens with the team. I have been lead mentor for the last 5 years and have been part of the team for 6.
What does a typical after school team meeting consist of? This all depends on the time of year. During the off-season we typically meet 1-2 times every other week. It all depends on what the kids have cooking as far as ideas on community service or continuing education. During the build season we work from 2:30 to 9 p.m. two days a week, 2:30 to 5 p.m. two days a week, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m. depends on what needs to get done for that day. Some meetings will be group collaboration, and others are total organized chaos (which is awesome).
Does the team typically work together on one big project, or do they break off into smaller groups to work on individual projects? We always take a “divide and conquer” approach. There are many facets to our team -- from students working in marketing and promotions, to design, building, programming, art department, administration, drive team, and scouting. Not one person or group would be successful if everyone worked on everything (just like in the real world).
What personal and academic skills do you consider valuable in order to be a successful robotics team member?
Six years ago I was approaching students about joining robotics and 90% of them were hesitant about joining. Their reply was "I have to be smart to do that.”
They thought robotics was all about grease and metal and building a mechanical beast. Slowly I have been changing that conception of what the robotics team is, and last year some of the students even came up with a clever motto: "you don't have to be smart to do robotics, you just have to be play-dough"... meaning you don't have to know anything [about robotics] but you have to be willing to be stretched, squeezed, pressed, reformed, separated, and recombined. Students get out of robotics what they put into it. If they come to robotics with that attitude of “I can try anything,” the sky is the limit as to what they can attain from this program.
How many students, mentors, faculty, parents, staff, etc. are regularly involved with the Pal Mac robotics team?
In the very beginning of the program we were lucky to have 6-10 students and 3-5 mentors. Over the last couple of years we have started to grow. Currently for this year we have 15 students with another 8-10 joining this week. This season I have two new school mentors that have joined the team along with 3 new parent/engineers bringing our mentor numbers up to 17 (this includes returning graduates from the team who wanted to become mentors).
What personal and academic skills do you consider valuable in order to be a successful robotics team member?
Six years ago I was approaching students about joining robotics and 90% of them were hesitant about joining. Their reply was "I have to be smart to do that.”
They thought robotics was all about grease and metal and building a mechanical beast. Slowly I have been changing that conception of what the robotics team is, and last year some of the students even came up with a clever motto: "you don't have to be smart to do robotics, you just have to be play-dough"... meaning you don't have to know anything [about robotics] but you have to be willing to be stretched, squeezed, pressed, reformed, separated, and recombined. Students get out of robotics what they put into it. If they come to robotics with that attitude of “I can try anything,” the sky is the limit as to what they can attain from this program.
How many students, mentors, faculty, parents, staff, etc. are regularly involved with the Pal Mac robotics team?
In the very beginning of the program we were lucky to have 6-10 students and 3-5 mentors. Over the last couple of years we have started to grow. Currently for this year we have 15 students with another 8-10 joining this week. This season I have two new school mentors that have joined the team along with 3 new parent/engineers bringing our mentor numbers up to 17 (this includes returning graduates from the team who wanted to become mentors).
Are student robotics team members typically involved with other student groups? If so, what types of groups?
Students that are on the robotics team are involved in other activities and the team plans for this. The team loves to have well rounded members, we have people that are active in athletics, the drama clubs and musicals, National Junior Honor Society, IB course loads, Model UN, and Science Olympiad.
How do you select which items will be presented at competitions? What qualifies an item (or robot?) as a competitive contender?
Every year in January the FIRST Robotics Organization releases that year’s game. The teams have 6 weeks to design, build, and test their robots. Then they must be sealed in a bag and not worked on until their respective competition. Ours this season is March 24 - 26 at the RIT Field house.
From where do most of your materials and supplies come?
All of the material and supplies must come from the team. One major part of the group’s efforts is fundraising for the year. For a team to be highly successful they must raise anywhere from $10-$18,000 for competitions and building. This could not be done without the support of major company sponsorship.
Over the last couple of years, Xerox has been an AWESOME sponsor for us, donating $5,000 each year so we can buy our build kit and enter the Finger Lakes Regional competition. Beyond that, any additional funds that the team needs must be raised by the team. Our annual budget runs around $10k, but with this season having a full marketing and sponsorship team we’re hoping for more. The team has talked about doing a 2nd regional competition which will cost the team about $10,000.