Youth Learn By Competing With Robots
They Rely Upon FIRST Competition's to Become Better Problem-Solvers
Apr 29, 2009
Several hundred youth between the ages six to 18 came from all parts of the United States of America and throughout the world, and faced off in the 18th Annual FIRST Championship held inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 15 to 18 (2009).
FIRST Organization Showcases Youth Career Opportunities
The multi-tiered championship event consisted of finals for the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech World Challenge and the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival.
FIRST, which stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology" and is a not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen, showcases future career opportunities for youth in science, technology engineering and math.
The organization designs accessible and motivational programs that combine teamwork, competition and fun for youth all across the world.
Youth Teams Compete in International Competition
All teams in the USA and in countries all over the world that finished at the top in local and regional competitions held throughout the year automatically qualified for the international competition in Atlanta, and faced off against each other earning medals, trophies and “bragging rights”.
A team from the Milwaukee metropolitan area (in southeast Wisconsin, USA), called “Two to the Ninth Dimension”, for the first time ever qualified for the FLL World Festival. The group of five 4th to 8th graders, who currently attend Heritage Christian School in West Allis, Wisconsin, experienced a high level of competition and a learning experience second to none.
According to team coach Mark Keup, (in an April 25 telephone interview), the team competed against several other teams with the goal of reaching a playoff on Saturday. All the teams competed in four different areas which included robot performance, project, teamwork and robot design.
“I was truly amazed at the level of competition we were up against, and how each team was able to navigate their robots on the gameboard,” Keup said. “It takes a lot of teamwork to design and construct the robot, and more so to accurately and quickly navigate the robot through a complex course that was set up on the Georgia Dome floor.”
Keup added that there were three 2.5-minute rounds, and points were earned according to the tasks the robots performed during each round.
Youth Find LEGO Robotics Tournament Challenging
According to the FIRST tournament manual, referees score the number of points achieved based upon the condition of the field at the end of the match, and judge on field performance.
The total possible points after all three rounds are completed would amount to 400.
The “Two to the Ninth Dimension” team was fortunate enough to receive third place in the Robot Innovation Design category. Team member Nathan Keup, 14, was the key catalyst behind the design of the robot. He told Suite 101 in a April 25 phone interview that the competition was a nerve-wracking experience, but team members still had fun and ended up learning a lot through the whole process.
Each team had about 10 weeks prior to the competition to build a robot that would, in two minutes and thirty seconds, complete pre-designed missions on a large “Robot Game” gameboard that was set up on the Georgia Dome floor.
The FLL utilizes theme-based challenges to engage youth in research, problem-solving and engineering, and emphasizes contributions of others, friendly competition , learning and community involvement.
In the robot design category, judges look for teams whose work stands out for innovation dependability, or both.
"To assess innovation, the judges typically watch the robots work, looking for things that make them say ‘Wow’, and they interview team members to reveal the less obvious unique and inventive idea,” Keup said.
To assess dependability, the judges interview team members to learn what solid principles and best practices were used to reduce variability and errors.
Every year FLL works with experts in the engineering and robotics industries to create a challenge that relates to a significant real-world issue. Not just the youth learn in these realistic competitions, but so do some of the industry professionals, educators and parents who are in attendance.
