Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, put its 2008 competition robot, Zerkit, on display during TechFest, an annual celebration of science and engineering sponsored by The Works. This is The Green Machine’s second appearance at The Works, a hands-on children’s museum of science and engineering. This year’s theme of Aerospace Engineering attracted more than 1,700 visitors to the February 28, 2009 event. During this free event, members of the community could build mini-hovercraft, straw rockets, ride a hovercraft, explore airplanes and rockets, view a Planetarium show and a Physics Force stage show, as well as chat with a NASA specialist about upcoming missions. Zerkit drew its own share of fans when it demonstrated how to lift and carry its giant trackball! Team 1816 members talked about FIRST Robotics and how math and science play into their interest in robotics. Several 1816 team members, who mentor “The NXT Generation,” a FIRST Lego League team based at the Works, also gave a demonstration of the capability of the Lego robots. For more information about the hands-on programs offered by The Works, please visit www.theworks.org.
