Press Release – January 14, 2015 | USFIRST.org.
New Movie Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, George Lopez, Carlos PenaVega, and Marisa Tomei Highlights FIRST® Students’ Famous Underdog Robotic Victory against MIT

‘Spare Parts’ Debuts in Theaters Nationwide on January 16 Featuring Robots Built by FIRST Teams.

Watch the Spare Parts movie trailer on Youtube here.

FIRST Robotics is not App Inventor, but FIRST is a high visibility showcase of youth STEM programs. Since 2008, I have been a volunteer engineering mentor with high school FIRST Robotics teams. The 2015 FIRST robotics competition season is underway now.

To learn more about FIRST Robotics in your area, or to start a team, visit USFIRST.ORG.

The team where I volunteer (Shockwave Team #4488!!!!!) has implemented several Android apps using MIT App Inventor. One of their apps, a robotic-themed game based on the 2015 competition, is available in the Google Play store as a free download. Other apps are used by the team during competition to collect data on other teams, which is then analyzed in an Excel spreadsheet (written using Visual Basic for Applications code) to develop optimal competitive game strategies.

(Sorry for no new App Inventor code examples this week – had an ear infection for a few days that caused dizziness. Everything is okay now!)