BY KARISSA MILLER
Twenty-one teams of elementary school students and nearly 20 teams of middle school students gathered at Unity Center on Wednesday and Thursday for the Iredell-Statesville Schools First Lego League Robotics Tournament.
Teams worked within the LEGO League’s theme of “Submerged,” which focused on exploring the ocean and its ecosystems. Robotics teams used their STEM skills and creativity to understand and learn about marine life and develop innovative solutions. Some schools has more than one team in the competition.
The competition consisted of a robot run in which teams built a robot made out of Lego building bricks and program it to complete specific tasks within a set time on a playing field.
Teams also rotate through three separate areas of judging, which consists of:
• Core Values: Teams demonstrate things such as teamwork and the ability to learn from mistakes to the judges.
• Presentation of Innovation: Teams are judged on finding a solution to a real-world problem.
• Presentation of Robot Design: Teams showcase the design, construction and programming of their robot.
After lunch, the teams participated in an opening ceremonies parade. Parents and spectators were invited to watch the robot run and awards ceremony.
Champions
The Champions were the Robo Owls from Harmony Elementary and the Bots Betting Better Behaviors from The Brawley School. The winning teams will be recognized at the May 12 school board meeting.
♦ Robo Owls team members are Jase Driver, Marley Shephard, Callie Loyd, Alex Walden, Luke Verzani, Hudson Loyd, Brayden Ramseur and Ryatt Smith.
“They were very excited. You would have thought it was their first win,” Robo Owls Coach Katherine Key said.
Key said that she’s proud of her team. In particular, she enjoyed witnessing older team members mentor the younger team members. It showed her that some of the kids were okay with stepping out of their comfort zones and becoming good leaders. At the same time, it helped foster a sense of community and support within the team.
“In core values, they had to build something and it didn’t go as planned, but the whole exercise was about teamwork. The judges commented that they saw them work together as a team and include everyone,” Key said.
Team members said robotics has helped them with listening to others, working together as a team and compromise. It has also fostered friendships.
♦ Botts Betting Better Behaviors members are Jacob Nyka, Malcolm Dunlevy, Advaith Sudev, Harshith Dadi, Desmond Volel and Luke Briggs.
“It feels amazing to win,” Sudev said. “We started working on this back in September.”
While the team said that their robot run didn’t go as smoothly as expected, they scored high overall in other areas.
“Robotics teaches you a lot about teamwork and persistence,” Dadi said.
Awards
Core Values Awards
Gracious Professionalism Awards
♦ Elementary: Union Grove-Octobots
♦ Middle: Woodland Heights-Bahama Beach Cleaners
Inspiration Awards
♦ Elementary: Scotts-Tigger Tigers
♦ Middle: The Brawley School-Ocean Guardians
Teamwork Awards
♦ Elementary: Cloverleaf-Battle Bots
♦ Middle: Oakwood-Aquatech
Project Awards
Research Awards
♦ Elementary: East-Cobratronics Submarine
♦ Middle: West Iredell-Let Go Our Eggos
Innovative Solution Awards
♦ Elementary: Celeste-Robo Champs
♦ Middle: Woodland Heights-Caribbean Cruise
Presentation Awards
♦ Elementary: Cool Spring-Trash Talkers
♦ Middle: Lakeshore Barnacles
Robot Awards
Mechanical Designs
♦ Elementary: Cool Spring-Fishing Frenzies
♦ Middle: West Iredell-Coco Coconuts
Programming Awards
♦ Elementary: Cloverleaf-Gear Gurus
♦ Middle: West Iredell-Underwater Taco Divers
Strategy and Innovation Awards
♦ Elementary: Celeste-Robo Shark Attack
♦ Middle: Woodland Heights-Robo Braves
Robot Performance
Elementary: Cloverleaf-Robo Wizards
Middle: The Brawley School-Ocean Guardians
Judges Awards
Against All Odds Awards
♦ Elementary: Celeste-Robo Ravens
♦ Middle: Lakeshore-The Penguins
Rising Star Awards
♦ Elementary: Shepherd-S. Eagles Seagulls
♦ Middle: The Brawley School-Ocean Loving Bots
Photo Gallery
