Forty teams compete at FIRST LEGO League Championship; two advance

BRISTOL – The FIRST LEGO League Rhode Island Championship was held Jan. 17 at Roger Williams University, and featured approximately 300 students on 40 teams building and programming robots out of LEGO blocks.
Winning the Champion’s Award was Mindstorms Mayhem from the All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown, and the second place Champion’s Award went to Bearded Builders, from the Lawn School in Jamestown.
Mindstorms Mayhem will attend the FIRST World Festival Event in St. Louis in April, where it will compete alongside 108 teams from 80 countries. Mindstorm Mayhem’s project featured a three-step way to teach cursive to all ages using stencils and a web-based program.

The Bearded Builders team is eligible to participate in the FIRST LEGO League North American Open at LEGOLand in California in May; there, the team will compete alongside 80 teams from throughout North America.

Other awards were as follows:

  • Judges award: Robowolves, Lawn school, Jamestown
  • Robot performance first: 235 points. Gaudet Science Laboratories Gaudet Middle School, Middletown
  • Robot performance second: Bearded Builders, Lawn School, Jamestown
  • Core values, inspiration: Nintendo Knights of Knowledge, Lawn School, Jamestown
  • Core values, teamwork; Robotic Rulers, Kickemuit Middle School, Bristol/Warren
  • Core values, gracious professionalism: Educated Engineers, Martin Middle School, East Providence
  • Project, research: Hyper green Oreos, family friends in Cumberland
  • Project, innovative solution: Gaudet Science Laboratories, Gaudet Middle School, Middletown
  • Project, presentation–variables, Barrington Middle School, Barrington
  • Robot, mechanical design: Chameleon Circuit Board, Riverside Middle School, East Providence
  • Robot, programming: Back to Basics, home based team in Wakefield
  • Robot, strategy and innovation: Robo Storm, neighborhood team, Portsmouth

A total of 68 teams, and more than 600 kids, participated in the season and competed at the qualifying tournament, from which 40 advanced to Saturday’s event, which was sponsored by National Grid.

- Advertisement -

FIRST LEGO League is a global program that engages elementary and middle school students by pairing a robotics competition with a research project based on an annual theme.

Rhode Island School of the Future is the operational partner for FIRST LEGO League and Jr. FIRST LEGO League, two programs for younger students.

Mary Johnson, of Rhode Island Students of the Future , FIRST LEGO League Rhode Island, said the event was “wonderful.”

“It’s always great to see so many kids engaged and interested in robotics, engineering and technology. The kids were enthusiastic and always willing to help another team,” she said.

No posts to display