Team #1920, a.k.a. the Robo Rays from Cedar Crest Academy, recently competed in the ‘Ocean Odyssey? regional LEGO competition on Nov. 19. Other teams may have scored higher, but the Robo Rays left knowing their solutions were the most creative, winning them first prize for innovation.
The competition took place at Howard C. Richards Middle School in Fraser, and pitted 23 teams of students ages 9-14 against one another. Students used LEGO MINDSTORMS robots to complete various tasks and were judged in five categories: research and design; robotic performance; technical mechanics of the robot’s construction; teamwork; and gracious professionalism.
All competing groups were members of the FIRST LEGO League, with Cedar Crest being the only team representing the Clarkston area.
Under the direction of team leader and Cedar Crest teacher Jen Healy, the team worked for eight weeks developing programs for their robot. According to several team members, building the robots only took a few hours, while programing them took weeks.
Challenges required precise movement and creative thinking. Some students focused on the robotic work, while others developed presentations on ocean-themed problem solving.
The challenge that really sparked the team’s creativity involved trying to lift as many flags as possible within a time limit. However, raising one flag would knock over another. The Cedar Crest team developed a large claw-like addition to their robot to help solve the problem.
According to Healy, even though the Robo Rays? device did not work as well as others in the challenge, their outside-the-box thinking and presentation to judges earned the team their prize.