Design Squad

One entertaining resource I have found is a PBS television show called Design Squad. I am not sure if it is still on the air, but you can watch the episodes for free on the Design Squad website. Design Squad is a reality show where two teams of high schoolers compete to fulfill their client's request. The team that presents the best solution to the client gets 100 points per member. The teams are shuffled, and are given another challenge. The person with the most points at the end of all 13 episodes gets a $10,000 scholarship from Intel.


Not only is this show entertaining to watch, but it also illustrates engineering principles that are applicable to robotics. The teams follow the design process while solving the challenges. The use of prototyping and planning is emphasized to save time. This mindset is good for VEX robotics teams, as it is very time consuming to build a VEX robot and then take it apart. Planning and prototyping reduces wasted time.

This show is both entertaining and educational. I recommend it.