January 24, 2008 at 9:16 a.m.
Local Legos team achieves perfect score
Local Legos team achieves perfect score
At the 2007 Minnesota First Lego League Regional Tournament, the Chisago Homeschool team "Pixelation" scored 400 points on 'robot run.' This is only the second time in Minnesota Lego League history that a perfect score in regular competition has been attained. Interestingly, both teams to do it have come from the Chisago Lakes area. This helped Pixelation gain the rights to go the Minnesota State Tournament, being held January 26.
On the 'just the facts' side of things, along with Pixelation going to the MN State Tournament, two other Chisago Lakes area teams also earned berths: "Brick Squad" and "The Blockbusters." All three area teams going to state are homeschool teams.
The Chisago Lakes area has an especially strong presence within the MN First League competition sending at least one team to state each of the last five years and taking state championships three times.
Lego League, robot run, 400 points in a tournament? What is this all about one may ask? Pretty much everyone knows what Legos are. First, Lego League is a worldwide tournament held every year in which school aged kids (9 to 15) compete by building robots using Legos and a special computer robot 'brain.' The competition has two parts: one is to do robot runs through a special miniature terrain (4x8 foot table) to accomplish difficult tasks with your robot. Teams also do a presentation in front of judges on a theme research project, this year's was the Energy Power Puzzle. Pixelation chose the new Chisago Lakes Library for possible energy improvements, presented to the Library Commission with some recommendations potentially being implemented.
Making a Lego robot do what you want is tough enough, but teams also build it, then build attachments (think arms, legs, fingers), program the robot computer brain, and finally one has to get them to all work together to perform these difficult tasks. This year, these challenges, numbered 11 and typically involve taking attachments on and off while there is lots of screaming by kids and parents and the team must finish in 2 minutes 30 seconds.
The Pixelation team had an outstanding Regional tournament, along with scoring a perfect 400, they also took the following Top Honor awards home: Programming (computer robot brain), Mechanical Design (robot), and Head-to-Head (single elimination against all other robots).
Pixelation is made up of Lukas Vitalis, Abe Holte, Adam Holte, and Nel Siemsen; and coached by Nate Vitalis and Peter Holte.
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.