John Deere Sponsor Visit 2026

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On July 7th, members of Team Neutrino gave a presentation to John Deere employees. We introduced our team, highlighted our 2026 season and accomplishments, and went over this year’s FRC game, REBUILT. We also briefly talked about our outreach activities and explained how we design and manufacture our robot. Furthermore, we enthusiastically presented our competition robot to the staff and demonstrated the robot functions. The John Deere team was impressed by the presentation and the robot, which led to lots of questions. We answered their questions in detail, which led to more specific discussions. We all had a great time and are extremely grateful for this opportunity and for the chance to share our passion for STEM and robotics with John Deere!

Huge thanks to the John Deere staff for their time and support because this would not have been possible without them!

P.S. They also handed out free snacks and ice cream afterwards!

Programming Camp 2026

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From July 6th to July 9th, students interested in programming attended Team Neutrinos Intro to Programming camp, where they learned how to code in Java. From learning how to code basic words, to coding simple programs that can add numbers, and even coding lights to flash certain colors. These students learned how we use Java to program our robot and how to code in Java. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out with this camp, we hope they enjoyed learning about programming!

4th of July Parade 2026

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Team Neutrino participated in the annual Ames 4th of July Parade this year, showing off our 2026 robot Halcyon while throwing candy to onlookers. In keeping with the patriotic theme, our team members dressed up the robot with flags, streamers, and topped it off with Uncle Sam’s hat. Afterward, students walked through downtown Ames, carrying Team Neutrino’s banner and tossing candy to hundreds of spectators. This event was a great opportunity to display our robot to the wider Ames community, and our team members had a great time being part of the parade. We’re excited to be part of next year’s parade!

Scouting Camp 2026

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From June 29th to July 2nd, NEWtrinos attended Team Neutrino’s scouting camp, in which they learned how to perform all of the responsibilities of the Scouting subteam. During our four day long camp, students learned the basics of scouting, how to set up spreadsheets to track our scouting data (and cookie orders!), the fundamentals of website creation (HTML/CSS), and on the last day, they were given the opportunity to design their own webpages to scout this year’s FRC game Rebuilt.

We’ll be scouting to see how these students apply their new skills on our team!

2026 FLL Blastoff!

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This year, from June 15th to June 19th and June 22nd to June 25th, Team Neutrino held the 3rd annual youth summer camps for 4-5th and 6-8th graders to participate in a mock FIRST LEGO League (FLL) season. Through FLL Blastoff, we inspire kids to join the thriving FLL community in Ames and pursue STEM in the future. Members of Team Neutrino spent countless hours planning and preparing for FLL Blastoff, even through the intensive build and competition seasons. We also dedicated our Outreach Camp to train camp leaders and volunteers, ensuring a well-executed camp where students are able to learn how to build and codea LEGO Spike Prime robot to complete missions.

This year, we chose the 2023 FLL game, Super Powered, challenging campers to complete various missions with their robot such as turning a LEGO windmill and moving a LEGO dinosaur. The campers loved the dinosaur mission, which gave students an opportunity to use their imaginations to come up with unique ways to push the dinosaur across the field! On the final day, we ran 4-6 actual matches, giving the campers an opportunity to see their hard work in action during a mock FLL competition.

We can’t wait for the next FLL season this fall!

Graphics Camp 2026

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Through June 15-18, students interested in graphics attended Team Neutrinos Graphics camp. For the duration of those four days, students learned how to navigate through Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, and how to operate a camera. After learning the basics of Premiere Pro, they worked in different groups to put together a 30 second video consisting of clips from competitions and build season. We are especially thankful for our leaders that helped guide the camp. Having so many people interested in graphics was delightful, we are eager to see those who participated put these skills into action.