First Lego League - Regional Qualifier 2013

William has been in the school Lego Club for a couple of years, and this year their team, along with two other teams from his school, attended the Regional Qualifier at Runnymede Collegiate this Saturday. First Lego League (FLL) is an international robotics program for kids 9 to 14 years old (US/Can/Mex).  This year's theme is Nature's Fury. The objective is to program the robot (using Lego NXT robots) to perform various tasks, including obstacle avoidance, rescue, placing objects to other areas, etc., utilizing various sensors including touch, ultrasonic, and infrared. In addition, they have to present to the judges on robot design (including programming), a solution for one of nature's disasters, team-work, and more.

The competition arenas - Canon 5D Mark II & EF 35mm f1.4L. Click for larger.

William's team consists of six members, all from his class. Their team is one of the smallest of the 27 teams competing. The competition officially starts at 8:45 am and lasted until 5pm. It was a long day for the kids but they were all pumped.

The T-Bot Team - Canon 5D Mark II & EF 35mm f1.4L. Click for larger.

I am really surprised at how well the kids did, from design to presentation. Really proud of them. They didn't come out as well as they hoped and William and his team members were heart broken. They placed 16 out of 27. I think they did well for their age group.

T-Bot (Turtle Bot) being programmed - 5D Mark II & EF 100mm f2.8L IS. Click for Larger.

Lucas & William. the T-Bot programmers - 5D Mark II & EF 100mm f2.8L IS. Click for Larger.

Fine tuning - 5D Mark II & EF 100mm f2.8L IS. Click for larger.

Presenting to the judges - 5D Mark II & EF 100mm f2.8L IS. Click for larger.

Let's Go! - 5D Mark II & EF 85mm f1.2L. Click for larger.

Frisbee throwing robot, made by the Runnymede Robotics, team 1310. They are ranked 17th in the world. This robot can throw frisbees with amazing accuracy, guided by a laser. It can also pick up frisbees from the floor. Quite sophisticated.