Mt. Prospect kids build on last year
A group of seventh graders from Lincoln Junior High School in Mount Prospect, proved that practice does indeed make perfect.
After finishing second with their robot last year, the Cobalt Blue team earned the Champion's Award at the FIRST LEGO League state tournament Saturday at Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights.
They now have the chance to advance in April to the FIRST LEGO League World Festival in Atlanta.
Dressed in matching royal blue T-shirts, they emerged the state champions out of a field that included 64 teams and more than 600 children ages 9-14.
More Coverage Video State Lego League tourney
All day long, they went head-to-head with their robots, built and programmed with the LEGO MINDSTORMS system.
At last weekend's regional in Mount Prospect, Cobalt Blue members said they had made some adjustments on their robot to enhance its performance.
"We added touch sensors and light sensors," Emma Swanson of Mount Prospect said, "so if the program's not working, they will align the robot up again."
Locally, teams came from Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Lake Forest, Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, Elgin, and Batavia.
The GearHeads from Lake Zurich Middle School North finished second.
Teams have brainstormed since September around the "Power Puzzle Challenge," where they researched energy usage and energy efficiency in their local communities while programming their robots to accomplish related missions.
During the 2#189;-minute competition rounds, robots had to do tasks such as installing a solar panel on a house, launching a solar satellite and deploying wind generators.
Members of the SPEED team, from Mundelein, whose acronym stood for Super Powerful Energy Efficient Dudes, included neighborhood youngsters from the Countryside subdivision.
This was their first trip to state.
"I lined (the robot) up wrong for the uranium, and we missed it," Bryce Andreasen, 11, of Mundelein, said after the second round. "We just need to tighten it some more and keep practicing."
When asked what he and his teammates thought of the experience, and of working together for the past three months, he said, "It's awesome, and better than staying home lying on the couch."
A team from Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, the so-called "Caffeinated Squirrels," wore squirrel hats and even brought a toy squirrel as their mascot. They wound up winning the award for most innovative robot.
"We changed the robot's center of balance," said Robert Goldsbury, 13, of Batavia, "and added wheel walls that prevent the wheels from curving and the axles from bending."
Motorola Foundation members have sponsored FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, since its inception in 1989. Many of its engineers serve as mentors and coaches for teams every year.
"This encourages interest in engineering and science in a very hands-on way," foundation manager Matt Blakely said, "and really allows them to make real life applications in math and science, that they study in school."