April 24, 2008 at 7:52 a.m.
Minnesota State Champions take 2nd Place in World FLL Robotics Competition
Minnesota State Champions take 2nd Place in World FLL Robotics Competition
Minnesota State Champions, Pixelation, a homeschool team, is made up of Lukas Vitalis, Abe Holte, Adam Holte, and Nel Siemsen and is coached by Peter Holte and Nate Vitalis.
Pixelation used exceptionally strong teamwork skills, world class robotic design and programming, along with a research project based on Cold Fusion to impress judges over the two day event.
The 2008 FLL World Festival involved 81 teams from 24 countries. These teams came from China, Taiwan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Netherlands, Peru, Mexico, and Canada; along with 58 teams from the United States. Most of these teams were already champions in their own country or state. U.S. teams came from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska; and of course Minnesota.
The 2008 World Festival competition marked the 10th anniversary of FLL and the 50th anniversary of the invention of the Lego.
In 2008, approximately 106,000 young people and 10,600 teams participated in FLL competitions worldwide leading up to the April World Festival.
Opening ceremonies were attended by Dean Kamen, inventor and co-founder of FIRST who stated: "FIRST is inspiring the next generation of innovators and engineers, years from now, some of the students who competed in the Georgia Dome will be inventing solutions to society's most challenging problems." Also attending the opening was former President George H. W. Bush, who echoed Kamen's beliefs while reminiscing about attending the inaugural FIRST Championship 16 years ago and recognized Kamen for fostering young people's aspirations in science and technology. Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia addressed the crowd of budding engineers on Friday, and Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii attended to support a team from Hawaii.
NASA covered the robotic performance runs via live web-streaming. Pixelation's robot performance run scored a perfect 400 out of 400.
FLL International sponsors include such science and technology companies as: 3M, Rockwell Collins, Rockwell Automation, National Instruments, Vestas, and Lego.
FLL World Festival first place was given to External Fusion, a team from Singapore, third place going to Power Peeps, a team from Michigan USA.
The Challenge this season was called Power Puzzle, which was the ninth FLL Challenge. The Power Puzzle Challenge was released worldwide to teams September 5. For the next three months teams prepared for the first round of competitions. The focus of the Challenge was on alternative energy; several of the missions include moving a hydroelectric dam into place and exchanging a truck for a hybrid. The research project topic involved researching several different alternative energy methods, which could then be used to improve a building in the team's local area. The teams were then to present their findings to their community.
There were four main facets to the competition. Firstly, teams are interviewed by a panel of judges probing them for their teamwork. Secondly, teams must demonstrate that the robot that they built and programmed is designed appropriately for the task given. Thirdly, teams must do an independent research project that relates to the Power Puzzle topic and give a timed 5 minute presentation to a panel of judges on the investigative problem solving they completed, followed by an extensive 10-15 minute question and answer interview by the judges. Finally, teams must use the robots they designed to complete 11 tasks/missions on a playing field competing against another team in 2_ minutes.
A little bit about the Pixelation team members:
Lukas: I am the team's main programmer and I also enjoyed working on the research project, especially Cold Fusion. I love playing soccer. I like most sports because they give you a chance to be outside and just have fun. I also enjoy science, math, writing, and being in FLL.
Abe: I am the primary robot builder for the team, and I also came up with the plot for our skit for the research project. Along with robotics and Legos, some of my other interests include fencing, photography, reading, biking, current world events, geography, and history.
Adam: My time in FLL is spent mainly working on the research project, but I also helped with programming the robot. When I am not doing Lego I enjoy playing the piano, reading, and skiing.
Nel: In FLL, I focus my efforts mainly on the research aspect of the project, although I did help with some design of the robot. I also spend much of my time riding my horse, Mountain Stories, and working at the barn where I board her. I enjoy playing the flute, beading, rollerblading, swimming, reading, and science.
Team members stated, "I just couldn't believe it even when they said it." "Throughout the whole tournament I had no idea that we were doing that good. I knew that we were doing well, but to think that we were in the running to be first in the world; it's just amazing." "It was a really amazing experience being able to meet all those teams from around the world, one that I'll never forget!"
An over-riding theme of FLL is gracious professionalism. Para-phrasing Woody Flowers, FIRST co-founder and national advisor, and professor at MIT, "Gracious professionalism is all about having fun, respect, and honor; even while competing like heck." The Pixelation team had tons of fun meeting new people and making friends from all around the world. Sure, every team wanted to win, but more important was the experience provided by an event that brought so many people together from so many different places, and enabled all to share ideas, enthusiasm, and above all have fun.
Submitted by,
Nate Vitalis
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