With countdown to competition now in single digits, today marked one of the longest days yet for SHS robotics team

After the weather we’ve experienced since outset of the new year, Saline students must be forgiven trepidation at the prospect of anything scheduled on a Wednesday. Overnight snowfall accompanied by ice added to that accumulation.

Saline Singularity team members Spencer Schneider and Cameron Tressler responded by heading out on the roads much earlier than expected in order to arrive at the WLBY studios on Victors Way in Ann Arbor by 7:45am. On January 30, they were scheduled to appear today during the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce (SACC) segment of The Lucy Ann Lance Show at 8:20am. [1-3]

Our Chamber has featured a local business in this regular weekly slot for years. But this is Chamber 2.0, and that means a bigger stage, bigger impact. Connecting the dots. In this case, where does one start with the self-driving vehicle space, the role of government within it, and the workforce disruption it portends? [4-12]

Answer: In the machine shops and classrooms of Saline High School, where the FIRST Robotics Competition Team 5066 “Saline Singularity” does its work. [13-17]

Preparations for what turned out to be a twenty-minute live interview followed a plan in parallel with design, electronics, mechanical and all other key aspects of readying the game-ready robot itself. During the preceding four weeks, the Business sub-team met over a dozen times, first identifying key communications objectives, then distilling those messages into soundbite-length explanations.

Misters Schneider and Tressler divided those areas, as well as logically ancicipated questions between themselves in order to develop better subject matter expertise. They made notes on index cards just in case, and were supported by adult mentor Jeroen Spitael, making for a total Saline Singularity on-air contingent of three.

It’s hard to imagine a better mix of skills than those that Lucy Ann Lance brought to her microphone this morning. As a trusted and popular radio talker with more than three decades in the profession, her attention vouched for the credibility of this nascent and still largely unknown world. At the same time, she speaks sports, politics, automotive, and government — fluently. That is to say, the well rounded keys of FIRST Inspires. [18,19]

In a word, Lucy Ann Lance translated robot STEM to mainstream. This was exactly the goal that Saline Singularity wanted to make.

Rather than characterize this program further for those who missed hearing it over the AM dial, we’ll note that plans are in place to make this and upcoming segments of The Lucy Ann Lance Show available as part of the Chamber Chatter podcast feed. (SACC Executive Director John Tripolsky has asked for patience while Anchor rolls this out through the most popular listening clients; once the startup is set, we’ve been assured that things will run like clockwork.) [20,21]

A full academic day awaited students after their time on the radio ended. But that was then followed by a FIRST Robotics Competition Team 5066 “Open House” in the Saline High School commons. Impressively, all of =Saline Singularity appeared to be in attendance to support a very well organized presentation on FIRST Inspires, our home team, and the particulars of “Destination: Deep Space.” [22,23]

As provided for in official rules, their robot was allowed out of its bag to demonstrate capabilities specific to material handling for point scoring at games. A few dozen people, mostly adults from student families and school administration follwed content in rapt attention. When subsequently offered the opportunity to ask questions, they indulged every curiosity seemingly imaginable.

District Competitions begin for Saline Singularity in Belleville with District Meet scheduled March 7 to 9. It’s open to the public, and the team would very much like to see members of this community there to root them on. [24]

References

1. Saline Singularity Team 5066 (home page).
2. AM 1290 WLBY (home page).
3. Saline Area Chamber of Commerce (home page).
4. “Formal Saline Area Chamber of Commerce new ‘Chamber 2.0’ launch put an indelible emphasis on its ‘Area’ mission” Dell Deaton (February 22, 2019) Saline Journal.
5. “Toyota leverages North American International Auto Show to display car with unique self-driving capabilities” Dell Deaton (January 14, 2019) Saline Journal.
6. “‘PlanetM’ Is Key Element Of Michigan Strategy To Shape Its Own Destiny Through Public-Private Partnerships, Part 1” Dell Deaton (December 27, 2018) Saline Journal.
7. “Ann Arbor SPARK Event Truly Showed Attendees The Bigger Potential Of American Center For Mobility At Willow Run” Dell Deaton (July 10, 2018) Saline Journal.
8. “Michigan Governor Took Center Stage in Detroit This Month To Detail Mobility Partnerships Already In Motion” Dell Deaton (June 21, 2018) Saline Journal.
9. “Trust is the Biggest Obstacle to a Mobility Revolution; Established Players Are Directly Asking You for It, Now” Dell Deaton (June 7, 2018) Saline Journal.
10. “Ready or Not, Autonomous Vehicles Rolled Further Ahead This Week Toward Inevitability with Mobility for All” Dell Deaton (May 31, 2018) Saline Journal.
11. “What Cities Need to Know about Consumer Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles” Dell Deaton (March 30, 2018) Saline Journal.
12. “Autonomous Vehicles Promise to Solve Downtown Parking Problems” Dell Deaton (March 19, 2018) Saline Journal.
13. “Saline FIRST Robotic Team 5066 was ready for us to take a look at who and what will drive its latest competition entry” Dell Deaton (February 13, 2019) Saline Journal.
14. “Week 4 of the Saline Singularity competitive robot build wrapped up with a working model, and ninety minutes to spare” Dell Deaton (February 2, 2019) Saline Journal.
15. “Saline Singularity robotics team met today, and week 3 focused on its ‘business’ as much as anything else” Dell Deaton (January 26, 2019) Saline Journal.
16. “Saline Singularity FIRST Robotics Team moves through week 2 with CAD drawings, prototypes, and February 1 target date” Dell Deaton (January 17, 2019) Saline Journal.
17. “Saline Singularity FIRST Robotics Team week 1 progress report: Here’s what happened after the 2019 game was announced” Dell Deaton (January 9, 2019) Saline Journal.
18. Lucy Ann Lance (Facebook Page).
19. FIRST Inspires (home page).
20. “‘Chamber Chatter’ podcast aims to deliver area business information through a channel audiences increasingly prefer” Dell Deaton (January 28, 2019) Saline Journal.
21. Anchor (home page).
22. “FIRST Robotics Competition Game & Season Info” FIRST Inspires.
23. “2019 FIRST Robotics Competition: Destination: Deep Space Game Animation” FIRSTRoboticsCompetition (January 5, 2019) YouTube.
24. “2019 Season: Team 5066 – Singularity” The Blue Alliance.