The Mind M.O.N.C.S. (Makers of New and Clever Solutions) are a LEGO Robotics team based in Newark, DE. After winning the Champion’s Award at the state competition in March, the Mind M.O.N.C.S. were invited to represent Delaware at the 2023 American Robotics Open (https://americanroboticsopen.org) in Jersey City, NJ. The team asks for your support to help them attend the event! The expenses of attending the competition are substantial, especially considering that the team is comprised of five families from Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia. Your support would help cover the team registration fee, competition costs, lodging, and other direct expenses.

Why should I support the Mind M.O.N.C.S.? As parents of team members, we could not be prouder of the brilliant engineering work, impactful research, and virtuous display of core values accomplished by the team.

ENGINEERING: The team develops “simple and smart” mechanical solutions and precise programming to accomplish autonomous robotic missions on a 4’x8’ field. Heading into the American Robotics Open, the team has a possible high score of 380 (out of 400 possible points), rivaling some of the strongest teams in the country.

RESEARCH: For the 2023 “superpowered” season, the team spent the year researching sustainable energy production and consumption. Members visited Babcock Ranch, a community in Florida powered 100% by sustainable energy. After discovering that energy consumption continues to outpace sustainable production, the team shifted focus to developing a solution for conserving energy within homes. Given that most household members do not know how much energy they use in day-to-day activities, the Mind M.O.N.C.S. designed an in-home energy display application that provides real-time energy usage, interactive usage displays, community leaderboard functionality, energy usage goal setting, and tailored suggestions for reducing consumption and saving money. Emporia Energy (https://www.emporiaenergy.com) was so excited about the project that they donated their back-end equipment to help the team turn their design into the first fully functioning Mindful Meter prototype.

VALUES and VIRTUES: The FIRST organization (https://www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission) promotes the core values of “gracious professionalism” and “coopertition.” The Mind M.O.N.C.S fully embrace these values by treating each other with kindness and respect. The team’s best ideas often emerge as a synthesis of each member’s contributions, ideas, and insights. The team members also live out their faith as they work to be inclusive, attentive, and respectful to each team member. After each competition, organizers noted just how special this group of students is.

With your support, we look forward to providing the Mind M.O.N.C.S. one more opportunity this season to radiate their joy and love while sharing their vision for creating a more sustainable future.