I, Jamaican Robot!

It kills me when I miss something as cool as the Jamaican robotics team winning an award in California. I don't know how I missed it, but I regret not finding it sooner. It's really cool to see the youth of Jamaica making things that can manipulate an environment: A robot. Georgia (in the original post at Caribbean Beat) pointed to a few articles - like 'Make your own robot: WHAT'S ON THIS SUMMER?', which as far as I know the Caribbean ICT community seems to have completely missed while doing whatever it does. Perhaps this is why it was so successful, with the Jamaican group winning the Judges Award at FIRST LEGO League!

Legos! But I have Legos! My old Lego Mindstorm kit has been sitting around for years, with nobody I would trust to use it constructively to hand it to! Ahh, the memories of that kit. I wish I had it when I was a kid... people don't realize that robotics as a hobby is educational - not just in technical areas, but in the manner of thinking. Problem definitions, creative solutions, but most importantly - creating something with what is available, nurturing it through it's faults, and seeing it through. Manipulating the environment in such ways is, as my St. Lucian friend, Mr. Williams mentioned, the foundation of Freedom. It requires knowing the environment, understanding how the environment works... and in robotics, this is done through a proxy in controlled environments. The less controlled the environment, the greater the education - but it happens in non-distinct stages...

From a robotics hobbyist and enthusiast... a hearty congratulation to the Jamaican team! :-)