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Diving Deeper into Robotics First Lego League: Submerged Event, October 26

Diving Deeper into Robotics First Lego League: Submerged Event, October 26

 

On October 26th, the Excellence Hall of the Decatur County Schools Board of Education buzzed with energy as young robotics enthusiasts gathered for an exhilarating First Lego League (FLL) event. From 10 AM to 2 PM, students from various school systems across Southwest Georgia showcased their creativity, teamwork, and innovation through their remarkable robots.

 As teams set up their robots on the competition tables, students collaborated about strategy for solving the 15 Ocean Exploration themed missions which are part of the 2024-2025 “Submerged” Season, you could feel the excitement in the air.  Whether feeding Krill to a whale, delivering a scuba diver to a coral nursery, finding Kraken’s treasure, capturing an “unknown creature”, or  relocating a shark to its habitat, students must build an autonomous robot and program it to journey through the 4 foot by 8 foot field strategically to accomplish as many tasks as possible within the 2:30 minute time limit. Each team shared their robot and mission ideas, coding solutions and strategies and a spirit of grit and determination as they learned together and helped one another despite being competitors.

Students launch missions on Robot Table

 

A Spirit of Sharing and Ingenuity

Saturday’s event served as a crucial opportunity for new FLL teams to practice running robot rounds, refine their strategies, and learn from one another. This is all part of the "Gracious Professionalism" and "Coopertition" that FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) promotes through their CORE VALUES: Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun. 

“It’s amazing to see how much effort the kids put into their robots,” said Ms. Zock from Decatur County Schools. “Each team has its unique approach, and watching them learn from each other is what FLL is all about.” Supported by coaches, parents and mentors, students were hard at work improving their scores throughout the event and discovering new ways to accomplish the same task. “This is just what our students needed to feel confident before competing in December,” said Coach Elizabeth Hill, who has two rookie 8th grade teams from Bainbridge Middle School that are competing this year. “I can already see so much improvement from one day working together.” Veteran Coach Danielle Jones from Grady County echoed this sentiment as her students were able to add new missions to their list during the day as well.

 

robot rounds

 

Zock works with teams on refining code for robot missions

Danyelle Larkin, Eve Cuero, and Julia Kim from GaTECH , as well as Candace Christian and Dr. Willie Allen from Southern Regional Technical College sponsored the event providing resources and food to keep the students going. This is part of a greater initiative to grow the FLL program in southwest Georgia bringing STEM and Computer Science opportunities to the area. SRTC is excited to be hosting the first SWGA regional tournament for these new FLL teams on December 14th at the Thomasville campus. If you are interested in volunteering or getting involved with  FLL please contact Dr. Allen wallen@southernregional.edu or Amy Zock azock@dcboe.com for more information.

 

Danyelle Larkin, Dr. Willie Allen, and Robotics teams hard at work