It’s nearing the end of Week 1 of this year’s build season and the team is off to a great start.  We’ve spent some time absorbing the new game challenge, chosen a gameplay strategy, and 

This year’s game looks great, with several new types of interactive game elements, some tricky strategic tradeoffs, and a nailbiting endgame.  It should be a fun game to watch and play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiYWTmFRVE

Errata from December newsletter
Triple Helix aims to compete at the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship sponsored by Newport News Shipbuilding on April 3-5 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA.

Triple Helix sweatshirts now available in our web store
For a limited time, we are gathering orders for this season’s Triple Helix hoodies to be delivered prior to the competitions!  Orders must be in by the January 20th deadline.https://store.iifound.org/product/sweatshirt/

Field construction at the Peninsula STEM Gym is underway
At our shared robotics practice facility, we have built full-scale wooden mockups of the Power Port (the goal) and the Trench (a robot tunnel that also holds a colored spinning Control Panel wheel).  We can still use additional help constructing these mockup game elements; this requires only basic woodworking skills.

The Peninsula STEM Gym will also host a robot pre-inspection day on February 22nd.  All local teams are invited.  This event is a great opportunity for teams and volunteer Robot Inspectors to prepare for the first round of competitions.

Our VCU Occupational Therapy doctoral student has begin their capstone practicum semester
For the 2nd year, Triple Helix and Intentional Innovation Foundation welcomes to our team a student from the occupational therapy doctoral program at Virginia Commonwealth University.  For their semester-long capstone “Doctoral Experiential Component” (DEC), this student will join us as a mentor while also learning the skills and tools at the intersection between therapy and engineering.  Together we’ll be extending the previous work of last year’s student, completing some awesome assistive technology projects, and establishing strong connections between our robotics team and the local allied health community.  Welcome Sierra Taylor Wolf!

–
Nate Laverdure
Head coach, Triple Helix Robotics
President, Intentional Innovation Foundation