Haines’ Redneck Robo Hobos placed second in Robot Games at the Juneau Jamboree Qualifying Tournament for FIRST Lego League on Dec. 9.
Seventeen teams compete from Juneau, Skagway and Petersburg. The competition had four categories: Robot Design, Project (problem-solving), Core Values, and Robot Performance.
FIRST Lego League, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, challenges fourth through eighth graders to develop a solution to a real-world problem.
The theme this year was “Into Orbit” and focused on the human experience in space exploration and the risks and planning necessary for extended space travel.
“In the Robot Game, students place onto a game board a robot they have designed, built, and programmed to carry out various ‘missions’ which are represented by models made entirely of Lego pieces,” coach Patty Brown said. The team with the highest points after three rounds wins.
The fourth, fifth and sixth graders prepared for the competition since mid-September, and met up to three days a week in October to practice executing mission models.
Brown said students Nate White and Garrison DelPrete were the two most focused on the robot performance, adding that Brody Ferrin, Loyal Tormey and Jacob Long provided strong influences, too.
For their project, the Redneck Robo Hobos chose to make a restoration wheelchair for returning astronauts to regain their strength from bone density loss.
Fifth-grader Loyal Tormey said that his team chose the idea by thinking of all the things that might affect astronauts coming back from space.
“It has a pop-up balance station so you can pop it up and practice your balance, 911 emergency call, food packets, and also the 911 tablet has mini games for hand-eye coordination,” Tormey said.
Coach Brown said that, while it’s fun that the team did so well, FLL is not about competing. “It is about working together, being open to new ideas, sharing those ideas with each other and with outside people and understanding that innovation through science and technology will move the world forward in so many fields,” Brown said.
Brown said that the Robo Hobos will keep one robot intact to use as a demonstration model for potential instruction in middle school science classes.