“Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?”
Established in 2006, The Barstow Kuhnights are based in Kansas City, MO, at The Barstow School. A product of our small school setting, the team is closely-knit, sharing a sense of family and community. Our name comes from the 1974 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where we follow King Arthur and his not-so valiant knights across Camelot. In one particular scene, a French castle guard calls the Knights "Kuhnigits." Seeing as the Knight is the school mascot of Barstow and the team's love of Monty Python, the choice of the Kuhnights was obvious with a little tweaking. Another staple of the English laugh fest, the killer rabbit, was adopted as the mascot of the budding team.
Besides building amazing bots, outreach is a year-round focus. We have partnered with VarietyKC and GoBabyGo! to adapt power-wheel type vehicles into motorized wheelchairs for children with disabilities. We also conduct demos, robotics summer camps, and enjoy inspiring new generations to love STEM!
We like to help other teams. Some of our leaders spend hours coaching other teams, either through ChiefDelphi or through one of the various community outreach programs we're involved in. Also, we actively assist the Barstow School's FIRST Lego League teams.