Welcome to the RoboScout Squad Website!
We are so happy you are here to learn about RoboScout Squad and FIRST robotics programs.
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We are RoboScout Squad, an all Girl Scout FIRST Tech Challenge and LEGO robotics team in Kalispell, Montana. Our team is made up of girls in grades 9-12. We’ve been a team for 5 years and we will start our 3rd FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Season in September. In the past, we have also participated in the NASA NWESSP LEGO robotics challenges. In our first three seasons, we competed in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and we are the 2020 FLL Montana State Champions. In 2021 we were the second-ranked FTC team in Montana. This year we are both the Inspire Award winners and Winning Alliance Captain and we attended the World Championship in Houston, TX. We don’t just compete, we share our tech with younger Girl Scouts and our community with a goal of increasing enthusiasm for STEM in girls. Scroll through our blog posts and visit our “About Us“, “FTC” and “FLL” pages to learn more.
This website has a host of information for kids, parents, new teams, coaches, volunteers, and sponsors. Our blog page also contains local news stories about the team.
The FLL/FTC resources contained on this page are mostly from FIRST directly. Supplemental info is based on our experience as a new team and is geared toward new teams and coaches. We want to help you get started and grow. We would love more teams to start-up in the Flathead.
If you’d like to support our team and encourage STEM education for girls in the Flathead Valley, let us know by visiting our “Our Sponsors” page or emailing us at: info@roboscoutsquad.com
Thank you for being here with us. We appreciate your support!
RoboScout Squad Found a New Home
5/31/2022
RoboScout Squad is thrilled to announce that our quest to find a new location has been successful. Team Sponsor Logan Health has generously offered space for us to set up our robotics lab. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude. Please join us in saying thank you, Logan Health, for being a champion for us, giving us a space that will allow us to grow, and supporting girls in STEM.
For the last 5 years, the Kalispell Girl Scout office has hosted our all Girl Scout robotics team. With local Girl Scout staff now able to work from home, the office is closing when the lease is up at the end of May. This sent the team on a search for a new home.
“Our youth is our future,” says Logan Health President & CEO Craig Lambrecht, MD. “When we heard about this need, we were happy to provide a space to nurture the collective talents of this team.”
We are excited about the new space because it has enough room for a full competition field. We’ll be able to set up stations dedicated to specific tasks like building, programming, 3D printing, and a workbench for cutting and drilling custom parts. The room already has a full pegboard wall which will come in handy for organization and parts visibility. A little extra room also gives us an opportunity to reach more girls, invite groups of visitors to come and see what we do, and maybe even host a scrimmage.
RoboScout Squad won the 2022 Montana FIRST Tech Challenge Championship and attended the 2022 World Championship in Houston, TX in April. The next FIRST Tech Challenge season starts in mid-September when teams around the world receive the parameters of a brand-new robot game. Teams then begin building and programming robots to tackle the new challenge.
RoboScout Squad is currently recruiting new members for the 2022-2023 “PowerPlay” Season. Current 8th-11th grade girls that are interested can reach out to the team at info@roboscoutsquad.com. Team roles include engineering/build, CAD design, programming, documentation, website maintenance, social media, rules and safety, presentation/speech writing, 3D printing, outreach, and more. No experience is needed. You just need a desire to learn, the ability to work well in a close team environment, and the time to commit to the team. If you have a group of kids interested in starting a new FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST LEGO League team, we’d be happy to share knowledge and help you get started.
Thank you to everyone in the community that kept their eyes open for a new space, made calls on our behalf, or passed along leads. We are thankful for your support and encouragement. Again, thank you, Logan Health, for coming to our rescue with a perfect solution. We’ll post again when we get the new robotics lab finished and named.
Wish List of Items for New Space:
- Horizontal band saw (smaller, with stand) – like this one from Amazon or similar – $260
- Saw Blades 18 TPI – $24
- Saw Blades 24 TPI – $24
- Heat Gun with deflectors – $74
- Soldering Iron Kit – $141
Folding chairs (8)– Thank you J2 Business Products for your donation!Drill press and vice— Thank you Harbor Freight for your donation!Bench grinder— Thank you Harbor Freight Store Manager Archie!
RoboScout Squad Seeks New Meeting Location
We have a new challenge and need your assistance. First off, thank you to our friends, family, sponsors, supporters, and the community for helping us get to the World Championship in Houston. It was an amazing, fun, and educational experience. We will get our FTC Freight Frenzy season blog updated with all kinds of World Championship news soon.
RoboScout Squad is an all-girls robotics team in Kalispell that has been participating in FIRST robotics competitions since 2017. These innovative girls are in need of a new meeting space. They have worked hard over the last 5 years and moved up from small FIRST LEGO League robots to FIRST Tech Challenge’s larger aluminum robots. RoboScout Squad is the only FTC team in Flathead County. They have accomplished amazing things:
- 2022 MT FTC Champions:
- Inspire Award Winner
- Winning Alliance Captain in the robot game
- 2021 MT FTC Inspire Award Finalist
- Top Ranked Robot – 2nd Place
- Motivate Award Winner
- Promote Award Winner
- 2020 NASA ROADs on Mars awards for Documentation and Team Spirit
- 2020 MT FLL Champion’s Award
- 2019 MT NASA ANGLeS Challenge Champions
What they do is more than robots. Beyond the obvious STEM skills, they are learning critical thinking, resilience, project management, public speaking, advocacy, the value of cooperation for mutual gain, and much more. They also share what they learn and mentor younger kids.
“We’re not using kids to build robots, we’re using robots to build kids.”
Dean Kamen, Inventor, and Founder of FIRST.
RoboScout Squad’s members are honor roll students, dedicated Girl Scouts, musicians, athletes, and more. Their mission is to encourage children, especially young women, to pursue STEM activities.
We are looking to continue our work but need meeting space donated. Our current space is no longer available as of 5/31/22. If you have a location or know someone with 400-800 sq ft of heated space (safe, secure, electrical outlets, bathroom) in the Kalispell area, please let us know. An oversized 2-3 car garage/shop space, RV garage bay, corner of a warehouse, office space, or Quonset hut, are all great options and we are open to other creative ideas. We don’t mind concrete floors. We have 4 industrial shelves for equipment, 3 work tables with chairs, and a 12′ x 12′ robot game field, for which we need walking space on 3 sides. Coming off our recent success, the team is growing and adding new members. We would need to be able to have equipment out full time from late September-March. Tables/chairs/field can be folded/packed and leaned against the wall in the off-season. We usually meet twice weekly, less often in the off-season.
In-kind donations of space, or ongoing donations to cover rent in a new space, are tax-deductible. It would be ideal to have at least a one-year commitment of space, so we aren’t having to move mid-season. All donors receive recognition on our website and social media accounts. Logos can be placed on our team shirts and signs at competitions. Help us grow the leaders of tomorrow.
Thank you for supporting girls in STEM. Please spread the word and help us find a new “home”.
For more information, please email us at info@roboscoutsquad.com.
Montana FTC Championship Results
It was such a big day for everyone! We are humbled and excited to announce that we were awarded the Montana FTC Inspire Award, and we were the Winning Alliance Captain in the robot game. With this comes a bid to the World Championship in Houston, TX April 19-23. We are thrilled about the upcoming experience but a bit shook by the amount of fundraising needed in less than 6 weeks. We estimate this trip will cost between $22,000-$25,000. Please check out our World Championship page, our GoFundMe, and our #FreightFrenzy season blog for more info.
RoboScout Squad News and Season Update
Team Update
We have been very busy building and programming our robot Grover to compete in the Montana FTC Championship on March 5th in Belgrade. There are only 2 days left at this point. Below you’ll see some of what we’ve been up to recently (besides building our robot and helping other teams) and the businesses and organizations that have helped us along the way this season. You can follow all of our season activities on our FreightFrenzy page.
RoboScout Squad’s FTC Dean’s List Semifinalist – Katie
Each team may nominate up to 2 members for the FTC Dean’s List each year. Each region (Montana is a region) may select up to 2 finalists and advance them to worlds where 10 are ultimately chosen as Dean’s List Awardees. Team 18240’s Semifinalist this season is our Lead Programmer Katie. She is a Junior at Flathead High School. Wish her luck as she goes through the interview process.
FedEx Outreach
Super interesting outreach the other morning. We were up bright and early for a tour of our local FedEx.
Why so early? Because that’s when the magic happens. Trucks arrive all night long. We were there to see unloading and sorting and loading up local trucks. We learned about the facility logistics, schedules, independent contractors, and safety. They have interesting equipment and we made note of several concepts that could be helpful on a future robot.
Thank you, CJ for the tour! It was really cool! Info about our team, visit, and FIRST will be submitted to their employee newsletter.
#FedEx #FedExGround #FedExExpress #FreightFrenzy
On the Radio! Kool 105.1 FM
On Feb 11th, we celebrated International Women and Girls in Science day by visiting Geoff Scott on KOOL 105.1 FM. It’s always fun to visit the radio station and see and hear how the technology works. We talked about FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Lego League, the upcoming state championships, and Girl Scout Cookie sales.
In the Newspaper! Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake ran an article about local FIRST teams on 2/16. We are thankful for the opportunity to bring awareness of FIRST programs to the community and for the local teams to be recognized for their hard work. https://roboscoutsquad.com/2022/02/16/kalispellteams_dil02162022/
Kalispell City Council
Coming up on March 12th is Girl Scout Day, the day we will celebrate the 110th anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouts. We visited Kalispell City Council on February 22nd, where Mayor Mark Johnson proclaimed the week of March 6th Girl Scout Week in Kalispell. This gave us an opportunity to share our nearly finished robot and what we do in FTC with the community. Council meetings are webcast and available for viewing online after the meeting.
SWAE Outreach & Spot the Boston Dynamics Robot Dog (November)
We had a great time at SWAE, a local business that makes advanced textiles.
Their current problem-solving adventure is figuring out how to protect the joints on Spot the Boston Dynamics Robot Dog. They asked us to come up with ideas to help, so we did some research and brought a couple concepts along. Everyone got to drive Spot and we had so much fun.
Thank You to Our Freight Frenzy Sponsors
As we have prepared our robot for competition this season, several local small businesses/organizations have donated time, services, and materials to help bring our ideas to fruition. Thank you all for your support.
Thank you Advanced Powder Coating for powder coating our robot wheels. This helps protect them from scrapes and damage during gameplay and they look fabulous.
Thank you Guiffrida Enterprises for laser cutting and engraving our robot’s rear acrylic panel. There’s nothing like seeing your team logo light up.
Thank you Trailhead Supply for teaching us about leather cutting and helping to make our unique intake design a reality.
Thank you Kalispell Toastmasters for coming to our meetings, sharing your expertise, and helping with our presentation preparation!
Thank you SignsNow for providing materials for us to put a team sign on our pit cart.
Thank you Bitterroot Screen Printers for providing vehicle wrap scrap for us to test our body panel concepts.
Thank you Kalispell Toyota for donating a van rental to get us to and from Bozeman. We really appreciate it.
More Than Robots
We’ll be sure you keep you up to date on how the state tournament goes.
Here’s one last fun note. Be sure to catch “More Than Robots” the new documentary about FIRST, on Disney+ starting March 18th.
FIRST Teams in the Newspaper
The Daily Inter Lake ran a story today about the FLL and FTC in Kalispell.
Page A3. Check it out! Thanks Hilary!
By HILARY MATHESON
Daily Inter Lake | February 16, 2022 12:00 AM
Northwest Montana robotics teams are headed to the Montana FIRST Lego League Challenge and FIRST Tech Challenge state championships.
Three FIRST Lego League teams from West Valley School, two teams from Ronan and two from Eureka will compete at the FIRST Lego League championship Feb. 26 at Montana State University in Bozeman. The teams made state after making the top 30 out of 52 teams at the FIRST Lego League Montana State Virtual Qualifier Feb. 5.
The RoboScout Squad, made up of members from Girl Scout Troop 3709, will be competing at the FIRST Tech Challenge March 5 in Belgrade.
At state, all teams will be tasked with completing missions or objectives centered around the theme of shipping and logistics.
The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is open to children ages 9 through 14. At this level, students use kits to build and program robots to complete missions. This year, competitors will program robots to navigate a game board, retrieving and delivering cargo to help planes, trains and trucks complete their work within two and a half minutes, according to a press release. Competitors will also present on the process of coding and designing their robots. In a third part of the competition, students research and share solutions to a problem on the season’s theme.
The FIRST Tech Challenge is a more advanced program geared to seventh- through 12th-graders, who design, build and code robots to complete outlined objectives. RoboScout coach Krista Nunnally said during 2-minute 30-second matches, four robots will navigate obstacles on a 12×12 field to strategically collect and deliver cargo to locations of various heights.
“A match consists of a 30-second autonomous period in which the robot moves based on coding alone, followed by a two-minute remote control period,” she said.
Teams will also present their robots to a panel of judges, explaining the design process and submitting engineering portfolios and notebooks describing their work during the season.
The RoboScout Squad, made up of high school girls, is now in its fifth year. With three years of experience competing in FIRST LEGO League before moving up to the Tech Challenge, the team has used their knowledge to mentor the rookie West Valley teams — The Lumberjacks, Techy Nerds, and Tech Vipers.
West Valley started the robotics teams after implementing an Introduction to Robotics class and they have been preparing for state with help from the RoboScout Squad, who have served as mentors to the rookie teams.
“It would be exciting to have more Local groups start their own FLL teams and foster a regional robotics presence for the Flathead Valley,” said West Valley adviser Matt Honcoop.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 406-758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
RoboScout Squad Note: The surrounding area FLL teams were mentioned, but there are also 3 FTC teams from Eureka participating in the FTC Championship on March 5th in Belgrade.
Typos are corrected from the original material.
Original link: https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2022/feb/16/area-robotics-teams-advance-state/
If you’d like to keep up with our team’s activities, visit our Freight Frenzy page or follow us on Instagram @roboscoutsquad18240 or Facebook
FIRST TECH CHALLENGE
Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming
Montana State University: FIRST
Montana Learning Center
RoboScout Squad 