The First Tech Challenge (FTC) 2016-17 robot game has been released. This year, there are two DarBot teams, and they are working diligently to prepare for their first competition on Nov. 5.
The first step is for collaborative groups to brainstorm together, and to do this the DarBot team members completed the “Ideate” step in the Design Thinking process.
Groups worked together to brainstorm and generate ideas about the general strategy for completing the robot game, how the robots would earn points, and the robot design. The students focused on using the brainstorm norms of encouraging wild and out of the box ideas, going for volume, deferring judgment regarding anyone else's ideas, and being visual.
The brainstorming process was visual by using sticky notes and sharpies to record student ideas. Collaborative groups generated ideas about the general strategy of this year’s challenge, the scoring apparatus, and the building of the robot.
In the end, the students shared their ideas and received feedback from other groups. Brainstorming in this manner allowed teams to organize their thoughts before beginning the building process.
