ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) hosted its fifth annual FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics competition at ATEC headquarters on Aberdeen Proving Ground Jan. 30.
Seventeen teams competed for the top four positions to advance to the FLL state championship at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) March 5.
ATEC and Team APG partnered with UMBC and For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) to organize the event.
FIRST has many competitions, including the Junior FIRST Lego League (JrFLL), the FIRST Lego League (FLL) for younger students, the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for high school aged students.
FLL is a robotics program and competition for 6-14-year-old students designed to get them excited about science and technology and to teach them valuable career, employment and life skills. This year's competition at ATEC consisted of students ranging from 9 to 14 years old.
"This is a great opportunity for students to build on their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills, while continuing to have fun," said Christina Bryant, ATEC's recruitment and outreach program manager.
ATEC Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Daniel L. Karbler, opened the competition by welcoming students and wishing them the best of luck throughout the day.
Karbler also encouraged the students to always do their best, emphasizing that one day it would pay off.
"At one point, some of the ATEC employees used to be just like you [students]," Karbler said. "They were also interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Look where they are now. They are making sure Soldiers are safe in the field."
Throughout the competition, each team was judged on programming autonomous robots (Robot Match), developing solutions to a problem they had identified (Project), and the FLL core values of teamwork, inspiration, and gracious professionalism.
In the Robot Match, volunteer judges evaluated robots based on mechanical design, creativity, programming, strategy and innovation, and why and how the students built their robots.
Hailey Forrester, a sixth grader with the Electronic Fireflies team, said one of her favorite things about participating in FLL is experiencing the different competitions.
This year's challenge theme was Trash Trek. Students had to choose a piece of trash and identify a problem with the way it is currently being handled; look for problems with the way people make, transport, store, or turn trash into something new; and to find out what is being done to solve the problem.
"Every year the [Project] challenge deals with a real world problem," said Jamie Gurganus, associate director of engineering education initiatives and instructor in mechanical engineering at UMBC. "The importance of FLL is that it is encouraging them [students] to start making connections about what they are doing in the class and with the real world."
"Students are exploring how to clean up the environment. It's not just what you are seeing with the robots on the field, but they also have a project they research and eventually create a technology that will become community impacting," Gurganus said.
The Bear Minimum Team focused on chemists by comparing the use of plastic bags versus cloth bags at local grocery stores.
The FLL core values are the fundamental elements that distinguish the FIRST Lego League from other programs of its kind. Students learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.
Nick Saccenti, a seventh grader and Bear Minimum team member, said that this project showed the importance of teamwork, one of the FLL core values each team was judged on.
Congratulations to teams Electrobots, the Pink Donuts and K Cup Killers, Crazy Guys Ink, and Super Dragon Lego Launchers for advancing to the FLL state championship.
Karbler extended special thanks for the cooperation among Harford County Public Schools and St. Margaret School in allowing their teams to participate in spite of the weather conditions that had closed the schools for the entire week before the event.
For more information about FLL, visit www.firstlegoleague.org.
AWARDS:
1st Place Project Award -- The Pink Donuts and the K Cup Killers
1st Place Robot Design Award -- Super Dragon Lego Launchers
1st Place Core Values Award -- Squirrelbots
1st Place Robot Performance Award -- Electrobots
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