Mount Prospect middle school's robotics team wins 1st place at world championships

The Shrimp Strike Back, the robotics team from Lincoln Middle School in Mount Prospect, captured the First Place World Innovation Solution Award at the World Robotics Championship in Detroit last week.

It is the highest award received by the school's robotics team and the highest FIRST Lego League award received by an Illinois team since 2015.

The team earned the recognition for its work to create a shrimp-growing tank that would provide food to astronauts during long-term space travel.

The effort had team members traveling across Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky to visit shrimp research facilities and commercial shrimp farms. Members also researched with the National Aquaculture Association, NASA astronauts and the head NASA nutritionist and worked with Kentucky State University Department of Aquaculture to develop their solution.

They even obtained a provisional patent for their invention.

Besides the innovation solution award, the team won Top Six Project Presentation, Encore Performance Invitee, the 17th-place World Robot Performance and fourth-best U.S.A. Team Robot Performance.

Coach David Roe said the world championships draw 17,000 competitors from across the U.S. and countries including Trinidad and Tobago, Norway, Austria and Chinese Taipei.

This year's theme, "Into Orbit," challenged more than 323,000 students on 40,000 teams from more than 95 countries to solve physical and social problems associated with extended space flights.

For more information on the team, visit LMSRobotics.org.