Lots of LEGO League!
Written by Samantha Lipscomb on October 20, 2004
Before the FIRST Robotics competition season even starts for Team 230, FIRST Junior Robotics Team 3427, the SIS Thundering Tigers, are hard at work, getting ready for their own competitions.
The Tigers are part of the FIRST Lego League, and have participated in this year?s game, No Limits, since October 2004, spending weeks building and programming their robot. No Limits is a game portraying the difficulty people with disabilities have in trying to perform everyday tasks, like feeding pets.
The Research Project, a very important part of the competition, asked the teams to design a product that would help people with disabilities, and then present it to a panel of judges. The Tigers came up with a Resource Guide to present to administrators in Shelton Schools, filled with information on real products that schools could buy to aid those with disabilities. Their ten minute presentation to the judges included comments on the trip they had taken to Ripton, a school for special needs children.
The Research Project was only a part of what Team 3427 had to do during each competition. The main focus was the game, which included a mat set out on tables and designed to look somewhat like a house. Each mat included nine tasks: putting a CD in its case, moving glasses, serving dinner, pushing in chairs, shooting a ball into a basket, feeding the pets, opening the gate, deflecting the white bus flag, and climbing the stairs. The Tigers were able to complete four of these tasks: the CD, the glasses, the bus flag, and the stairs. Teams had two and a half minutes during competition to finish as many tasks as they could, and team members could not touch the robot unless it was in base without receiving a penalty.
The Tigers received an average of 60-100 points each game, and did a great job. Team 3427 attended two regionals and the state competition, including the Bridgeport Local hosted by the Gaelhawks, who also acted as the team?s mentors. There the team won the second place Teamwork Award, which enabled them to go to states, and the Grace Under Pressure Award. At their second regional competition in Enfield, the team won the Judges? Award, despite technical difficulties, and team members were able to meet FIRST founder Dean Kamen. The Tigers put on a good showing at the state competition at Central Connecticut State University, but did not leave with any awards.
The Tigers had a great season, and look forward to next year, when they can learn more about the robot and do even better. T.J. Lipscomb, an eighth grader, wishes he could do it again next year: "I had a lot of fun, and I liked the competitions. I?m sad it?s over."
