Nov 24 2015
Southeast Missouri State University recently hosted a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) robotics competition with a theme of “Trash Trek.” Twenty teams of fourth- to eighth-grade students from across the region participated in the event.
Team members from Team 17072 – Top Cat Robotics, of Richwoods, work to reconfigure a robot during a match.
One aspect of the competition was a research project related to the theme of reducing the impact of trash. The Project Award was given to the teams whose quality research, innovative solutions, community sharing and presentation best reflected an in-depth understanding of the scientific disciplines involved with the project. The winners were Team 18491 – Dragons, of DeSoto, and Team 2867 – Eaglebots, of Jackson.
During the event, teams showed their robots off to a group of judges. These judges evaluated the mechanical design, innovation, programming effectiveness and team strategies for solving missions assessing the overall design quality. The winners of the Robot Design Award were Team 1516 – MOBOTS, of St. Louis, and Team 10654 – Gadget Girls of Lab: Revolution, of Farmington.
The most recognized part of the competition took place on fields 8 feet wide and 8 feet long. Robots wandered through the fields completing trash-themed missions, such as sorting parts for recycling and demolishing a building. Each completed mission was awarded points. Team 7556 – SEMO Robotics, of Poplar Bluff, and Team 9837 – GSA Dragons, of St. Louis, received the Robot Performance Award for earning the highest scores in their division.
An important tenet of the league is gracious professionalism. According to FLL, this is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. The Core Values Award was presented to Team 17072 – Top Cats, of Richwoods, and Team 2064 – Botcats, of Cape Girardeau, for extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit, inspiration, exceptional partnership, the utmost respect for their fellow teammates, and support and encouragement of the other teams.
Finally, the Champion’s Award recognizes teams that embody the overall FLL experience by fully embracing the core values while achieving excellence and innovation in both the robot game and the project. Teams had to do well in all of the categories above to win this award. The Champion’s Award winners were Team 21379 – Wreck It Rockets, of Chesterfield, and Team 13816 – Lightning Bots, of Ballwin.
Based on the awards and overall scores within the event, the judges gave out three golden tickets allowing teams to advance to the Eastern Missouri FLL Championship in St. Louis on December 6, 2015. These teams were Team 21379 – Wreck It Rockets, Team 13816 – Lightning Bots and Team 1831 – Birds of a Feather, of St. Louis.