With tablets, Legos, and coding, these fourteen teams from library branches across Brooklyn met at Central Library to compete in the final championship of Brooklyn Robotics League — resulting in what is surely one of our loudest stories ever.
Want to learn more about robotics at the Library? Check out the following links:
- See a video of the competition and the winners on our TikTok!
- Read up on robots and coding with this book list, and learn more about BKLYN Robotics League and FIRST Lego League, the parent organization.
- Want to be an engineer when you grow up? BPL's podcast for kids, Page Flippers Take on the World has an episode about that! Listen here.
- Check out our other STEM programs for kids.
- BKLYN Robotics League was originally supported by BKLYN Incubator, which is funded by The Charles H. Revson Foundation and Robin K. and Jay L. Lewis. Family Inc.
Check out our BKLYN Robotics League book list.
Episode Transcript
Virginia Marshall Hi, Borrowed listeners, Virginia here. And with me in the printing room of Central Library that has become our post-pandemic recording studio … is Frizti Bodenheimer. Hi, Fritzi!
Frizti Bodenheimer Hi, Virginia!
Virginia Marshall So, I don’t think our listeners have heard your voice yet, but you’ve been working behind the scenes on Borrowed even before the first episode aired.
Frizti Bodenheimer That’s right! I work in external affairs at the Library, and I’ve been editing scripts with you since the beginning.
Virginia Marshall So excited to have you in front of the microphone finally.
Frizti Bodenheimer Me, too!
Virginia Marshall And you’ve got a really wonderful audio postcard for us, right?
Frizti Bodenheimer Yes … today I’m going to bring you what I think is surely one of our loudest stories ever.
[Cheering sounds]
Frizti Bodenheimer You're listening to Borrowed, stories that start at the library.
[Cheering sounds continue]
Frizti Bodenheimer Believe it or not, these loud cheers are not on a basketball court or even in a gymnasium. They are actually coming from the lobby of Central Library where, on a recent Saturday morning, dozens of kids, ages 9 to 17, competed for top honors in the Library’s Robotics League tournament. Teams from branches across Brooklyn spent weeks designing and building small Lego robots and then learning how to use computer code to direct the robots to travel across a colorful 8 foot by 4 foot game board to complete tasks and earn points. The final championship was the culmination of three months of work, and the excitement that day was palpable.
Ellis My name is Ellis and I like going to Robotics. It’s so cool. Because we can do coding, and Lego Robotics.
Winter There was missions where you had to push the windmill and little blocks had to fall off.
Nathanial Here I have the robot that we use. It'd got a little claw mechanism to grab down and pull, and a piece that pushes objects.
Frizti Bodenheimer That was Ellis and Winter, age 9, from the Mill Basin Library, and Nathanial, also 9 years old, from Kings Highway Library. And the “missions” you just heard the kids describe are at the center of the Robotics tournament. Basically, each mission is a task that a robot has to accomplish—such as moving a plastic piece from one place to another. During the tournament, each team tries to get their robot to complete as many missions as they can in three rounds, each lasting just two and a half minutes.
Emcee All right, in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [Cheers and music begins]
Frizti Bodenheimer The round begins, and team members strategize and code, and it’s clear that the kids are taking the competition seriously. In the practice room, Virginia talked to Malaya, age 12, who was a team of one from Canarsie Library.
[Robot sound]
Virginia Marshall How's it going?
Malaya I think it's going pretty well right now. Trying to get the arms to move up well, so I could complete a mission.
Frizti Bodenheimer Even though Malaya was competing on her own that day ... she wasn’t alone. Her coach Emaliy, the technology resource specialist at Canarsie Library, was by her side, and her family and team members from previous years were there, too …
Virginia Marshall I'm going to interview your robot.
[More robot sound]
Frizti Bodenheimer Something that’s unique about Robotics League: the program teaches kids and teens about all kinds of science concepts, not just coding and engineering. Each competition has a theme, and this year it was Superpowered—an exploration of where energy comes from and how it’s distributed, stored and used.
FIRST Instructor Mission Six: Hybrid Card. Re-charge the hybrid car by inserting the hybrid unit into the car.
Frizti Bodenheimer Those instructions are from New York City’s chapter of FIRST which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST has been running robotics programs around the country for the past 30 years, and over time has grown into huge multi-day tournaments in sports arenas, with cheering fans and even color commentary, like this live-streamed robotics league state championship in Maryland.
Commentators They’re making their way toward the oil platform, didn't quite trigger it. They're coming back into the starting area. Thirty seconds left! Joe, how are we doing over on purple? They're moving! They’re moving! They’re rebuilding their robot …
Frizti Bodenheimer And while learning science and technology is important, Robotics is about something much bigger.
Chelia Cruz It also helps them develop teamwork skills and being leaders, and sometimes even learning how to step back and let other people take the lead.
Frizti Bodenheimer That’s Cheila Cruz, the Library’s Technology Training Coordinator and the creator of the Library’s Robotics League. She organizes the tournament and helps to train staff and volunteers in the weeks leading up to the championship.
Chelia Cruz The coaches spend time on helping the kids develop those soft skills as well in working with other kids and thinking outside the box and being team players.
Frizti Bodenheimer At Kings Bay Library in southern Brooklyn, Robotics is a family affair. I stopped by to watch a practice a few weeks ago and met Keith Vilar, who is a parent of a team member, a coach and an engineer himself.
Keith Vilar You know, they need to have a sense of experimentation and awe, like that they can do things and amaze themselves. From, what is the problem, to how do you work together? And how it all really works in the real world. Because things are so complicated now. You're not just doing one thing. Your job may be you have to collaborate with an engineer, with an architect, you know, with tradespeople, scientists or whatever. … And this teaches them that.
[Cheering sounds return]
Frizti Bodenheimer Back at the tournament, teams played their final rounds and waited anxiously for the results.
Nathaniel I think it went well, I think we have chances for third place, all hope is not lost.
Kareem We tried our best to complete all our obstacles. Fell short on one or two, but hopefully we’ll get some points.
Frizti Bodenheimer That was Nathanial, from Kings Highway Library, and Kareem, the coach of the Mill Basin Milly Bots team. Meanwhile, Malaya, from Canarsie Library, ended her final round to cheers from her supporters.
Emcee Can we get another round of applause for Canarsie Founders? I mean, she played this entire game by herself!
[Canarsie chant]
Malaya It was really exhilarating, like I was kind of nervous but excited at the same time, 'cuz I was doing my missions.
Frizti Bodenheimer Sharne-Gay, Malaya's mom, was beaming with pride.
Sharne-Gay My daughter is amazing. I’m so proud of her. She gets to express herself in a unique way, it's a lot of critical thinking for her, and I’m just proud of her. She did that all by herself! [Laughs]
Emcee The moment you’ve been waiting for. Can I get a drum roll please? [Banging]
Frizti Bodenheimer Soon enough, the scores were tallied and the winning teams were announced
Emcee In first place: The Washington Irving team!
Frizti Bodenheimer The members of the Washington Irving team ran out of the crowd, jumping and holding their fists in the air. They held their trophy high as their parents and library staff crowded around to take pictures. You can hear the excitement, and this is really the magic of Robotics League. For one afternoon in January, kids and teens are celebrated not for their athletic abilities or debate skills or artistic prowess … but for their ability to work as a team, for their dedication to math and science … and, for their robots, of course.
[“We are the Champions” song fades into Theme Music]
Virginia Marshall Borrowed is brought to you by Brooklyn Public Library. This episode was written and hosted by Fritzi Bodenheimer.
Frizti Bodenheimer Virginia Marshall produced the episode. Our music composer is Billy Libby. Meryl Friedman designed our logo.
Virginia Marshall Brooklyn Public Library relies on the support of individuals for many of its most critical programs and services. To make a gift, please go to B-K-L-Y-N-library [dot] org [slash] donate.
Frizti Bodenheimer We’ve included pictures from the Brooklyn Robotics League Championship, including an amazing video of the winning team hearing the final results, on our web page. You can also find a transcript of this episode and a book list for kids and teens interested in learning more about Lego Robotics, coding, and engineering. That’s all at BKLYN Library [dot] org [slash] podcasts.
Virginia Marshall That’s it for this episode. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more audio stories from Brooklyn Public Library. Go, robots!