Batavia FIRST Lego League Robotics Regional competition

If you still had any doubts about being smarter than a fifth-grader, Saturday's Batavia FIRST Lego League Robotics Regional should have put them to rest.

You're not.

The competition featured Lego robots designed by teams of suburban kids ages 9 to 14. During the past three months, the kids have programmed the robots to execute complex maneuvers such as picking up objects and navigating around obstacles without anyone directly controlling them.

On Saturday, 23 teams competed at Batavia's Rotolo Middle School. The best six teams will advance to the state competition next month in Arlington Heights.

The Robo Renegades were hoping to be one of those teams. Besting their 2008 total of 165 points, the Renegades racked up 300 points on the obstacle course, where robots must complete as many tasks as possible during two and a half minutes.

The obstacle course, though, was only one of four criteria judges used to grade the teams. In another phase of the competition, the Renegades came up with a system that would allow Rotolo Middle School students to page their parents using a fingerprint scanner when they were ready to get picked up after school.

"It's a great opportunity to make new friends," said Alex Siegfried, a Rotolo sixth-grader and Renegades team member. "It basically gives you life experience."

Saturday marked the fourth year Rotolo had hosted the Batavia Regional. This year, the event expanded to two regional contests because of growing interest in the activity.

"It's got a good involvement of kids," said Batavia Robotics/Fox Valley Robotics Head Coach Ron Karabowicz. "Honestly, we could use more."