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2008 Challenge

We were determined to adhere to a K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple) strategy for 2008, but somehow we couldn't resist the challenge of building a robot with both an elevator and a claw to lift a 40 inch trackball across an obstacle.  Once again we struggled against impossible deadlines and barely put a robot into the box on time.  With a lot of hard work, we got our robot running, but ran it into a wall and broke the claw off in our first competition.  Back to the drawing board, but we won 3 of 7 matches in Atlanta this year!

2007 Challenge

What a season we had in 2006! So for 2007 we decided to build many more parts from scratch and an innovative scissor life design. Our robot design was really challenging and we had so many things go wrong that were out of our control, we were working on the robot until literally the last minute before shipping it to our first regional competition. Then at the competition, we took it out of the box and used every round to fix problems. We never gave up, and managed to have a working robot at the end, and had fun.

"Now your team has had a wild success, and a tough challenge. You have come of age," said our mentor, Wendy Holforty.

2006 Challenge:

The team was formed in 2006. None of had ever worked on robotics before. Few of us had any technical experience. So we decided on a very simple design. And, boy, did we ever rake it in! We won the Rookie Highest Seed Award and the Rookie All Star Award at the Silicon Valley Regional. We then took the robot to the international competition in Atlanta, where we won the Judge's Award, the highest award any team can win. We made our parents and mentors proud!

Being a Part of Space Cookies is a Life-Changing Experience

"Being a part of the Space Cookies has taught me so many things," Meghna says, "I don't think I am going to be an engineer. Politics and business are more in my line of interest. Yet, I joined the Space Cookies three years ago and plan to continue until the end of high school because I have learnt about so many areas of life."

Working as a Team

Most of us have never had problems voicing our opinions, but we have learnt how to voice them so that we are accommodating of other's points of view. We learn this at school doing joint projects, but no school project is as long, or as complex as building a robot in six weeks.

Talking to the Press, to Company Heads, to Parents, to Kids

We have been approached by so many reporters during competitions, not to mention the judges, we have learnt to think quickly on our feet. We have been filmed for a documentary, and our leaders were interviewed on live TV.

We have had to give group presentations where we had no more than five minutes to rehearse. We have learnt to help organize these presentations in a heartbeat, to give opportunity to the shy ones to speak, and to jump in when there are long, awkward pauses, and to make sure our presentations are exciting and informative.

Steep Learning Curve, Hard Work, Never Giving up Hope

None of the new members come with any experience building robots or programming them. We learn fast from our mentors and our seniors.
  • During our first build season, we worked the last 48 hours straight through. We brought our sleeping bags to the lab, and crashed when we really needed to, getting up again to start working.
  • Our second season, girls and mentors spent up to four nights sleeping in the lab and we worked through all the rounds of regional competitions on replacing all the wiring, fixing bugs, and had a working robot in the end.
  • Our third season we completed the robot with no overnights, but had considerable work to do at the regional competition before producing a working robot. We are planning a series of pre-season workshops and training so that next season will be even more rewarding and fun. We all agree that we have learned a tremendous amount!
Our Achievements