由四位9－11歲女生組成的Lunar Dragons 月龍隊參加今年的 Google Lunar XPrize MoonBots Challenge ，從233隊中脫穎而出，取得晉級第二階段競爭前六名的資格。丫丫小記者也把握機會採訪了這幾位創意和能力十足的隊員，指導老師 Ms. Bing 也介紹了有關 MoonBots 比賽的詳情，大家一起來看看小月龍們的精彩機器人作品吧！
經過四位隊員的通力合作，Lunar Dragons 隊在 Google Lunar XPrize MoonBots Challenge 第一回合勝出，正在全力備戰複賽（Phase Two）爭取進入前六名。原來總決賽前三名獲獎團隊可以去日本會見來自世界各地的參賽隊，一起學習創新機器人技術。
Google Lunar XPrize MoonBots Challenge 是很有影響力的國際少年科技大賽。每年由XPrize基金會舉辦，並由Google全力贊助。比賽模擬在月球表面降落一個機器人探測器，還可以移動500米，並向地球傳輸資料和圖片。這項活動現已成為有影響力的國際少年科技大賽之一。參賽者都是8至17歲的少年，負責設計、創造和編寫機器人的編程。
第一階段，參賽團隊要提交一個視頻或書面故事，說明什麼激勵著他們對月亮有興趣，可以從古老傳說到月球探測的潛力。
第二階段，複賽團隊將自選一套組件來打造一個機器人，在模擬月球景觀內漫遊，然後上傳視頻，展顯月球機器人的探險遊戲，提供社區的兒童和成人欣賞。
官方網站：http://moonbots.org/
My Interview with the Lunar Dragons of Rolling Robots
by Jaslyne QQ
Last week I went to the Lunar Dragons booth and interviewed them at the Nisei Week. They are the Dark Dragon, Ice Dragon, and the Earth Dragon. I interviewed the three of them and I learned some things about them and Moonbots competition. They had 4 robots and a iPad to control them. It was really cool. They had a small arena with a floor that looked like the moon! It was very interesting.
The link to the video is right here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzWtJiLgo68. I had a lot of fun at the interview and learned a lot about robots. I thank the Lunar Dragons and Ms. Bing for letting me interview them. I hope that maybe next year I can build my own robot to compete in this competition!
Lunar Dragons 隊員的自我介紹
(Rolling Robots website: https://rollingrobots.com/)
Team Lunar Dragons consists of 4 enthusiastic roboteers who have a story about four lunar dragons who control aspects of the moon. The dark dragon and the ice dragon control the phases of the moon, the ocean dragon controls the tides and the green dragon controls the gravity. Join the dragons at the lunar festival as they share their stories that inspire them about the moon.
Dark Dragon – Karling Jennings is 11. She is crazy, but not rude. She is a fan of Toothless (aka Dark dragon), and orcas. In addition to loving animal science and ice skating, she also loves the dark part of the moon that controls the lights on earth at night.
Ice Dragon – Simren Parikh is 11. She really loves to ice skate. She also likes dance and science! She really likes the moon and is wondering if there is water on the moon, and if there is life on the moon.
Ocean Dragon – Annalisa D’Emilia is 10. Her favorite things to do are playing soccer (specially as goalkeeper) and surfing. She is curious and loves being creative (such as creating things out of duct tape). She loves the moon and the fact that the moon has a part in affecting the tides on earth.
Green Dragon – Leighna Kim is 9. Her hobby is to read exciting books (such as Stuart Little), build robots, and do science experiments. She practices Hapkido and takes swimming lessons. She is interested in knowing all about the gravity on the moon.
The team captain Dr. K – an aerospace engineer and the owner of Rolling Robots, a tech center for children ages 4 to 14 to learn Science, Technology, Engineering, and Robotics.
All four lunar dragons are members of Rolling Robots on Earth, where they come every week after schools to study robot building and programming.
