Rise of the machines: Students' LEGO robots duke it out

Students compete with robots

Central Oregon Lego Robotics Tournament fires young brains

By Sheila G. Miller / The Bulletin

The clock ticked toward zero in the Mountain View High School gym on Sunday, signaling to the two teams competing that time was running out.

As the buzzer sounded, the I Team scored again. But it wasn't a sporting event. Instead, students from around Central Oregon were participating in the eighth annual Central Oregon LEGO Robotics Tournament, and the I Team's robot had just completed another mission.

“It's like sports for the mind,” said Rick Samco, who serves as the local qualifying tournament director.

And indeed, as teams' robots succeeded, students gave shouts of joy, high-fived and chest-bumped each other.

The Central Oregon LEGO Robotics Tournament is part of the FIRST LEGO League.

Students build a robot from more than 1,100 LEGO pieces, motors, sensors and gears. Then the students program their robots to maneuver around a tabletop obstacle course. This year, the table's theme was biomedical engineering; students used their robots to repair LEGO bones and administer LEGO medicine. Teams try to complete as many of the missions in the time allotted.

Sunday's event was the qualifying tournament for area middle school-aged teams. The top area teams will go to the state tournament in January. Thirteen teams of students ages 9 to 14 participated in the event; some teams represented particular schools, while others are operated through 4-H programs or churches.

Each September, teams receive a new, topical challenge. In the past they've been about marine ecology and nanotechnology. Over the next four months, teams work together to construct a robot and figure out how to solve the missions on the board.

“The idea is to get kids turned on to technology,” Samco said.

In the tournament, teams get three chances each to complete the board missions; they are also judged on a research project about the subject, their robots' designs and their teamwork.

“It turns them on to what a tech job might be like. They've got to work as a team and show teamwork, they've got to have marketing and people skills,” Samco said. “They're learning life skills.”

When the teams weren't competing, they were practicing. At tables throughout the Mountain View commons area, students tinkered with their robots, tried new strategies on a practice table, and went over their presentations.

The Cheesy Smurfs Who Say Ricola, a team from Trinity Lutheran, were busy fixing their robot during a break in the action on Sunday.

“The building is fun,” said Kevin Shelton, 14. “It's entertaining to me.”

Kevin made a few tweaks to the team's robot, then sent Ian Wilson, 13, and Luke Phillis, 12, to a practice table to test out his handiwork.

“There have been constant modifications,” Ian said of the team's robot. “We tried three different types. This was the one that worked the best and was the most efficient.”

Keith Housden, 12, and Jake Frank, 10, are part of a 4-H team from Madras. Keith said the hardest part of the tournament is getting along with the team. Both kids said they enjoy giving the presentations to judges.

As they practiced picking up a patch and putting it onto a heart on the table, the group debated how best to fix the robot.

“I really like the projects and the presentations,” Jake said. “It's pretty fun.”