Robotics Recap: The Season's Finale

By Marie Walker

Just like there is nothing that quite prepares you for your first marathon: the emotions, the exhaustion, and willpower after you hit the wall, the Central Texas First Lego League robotics tournament on December 9th was a mélange of guts and glory, tears and courage, and ultimately, a success for all five of GSA’s robotics teams.

Our two older teams, the Flaming Robots (3rd-5th) and Run-it Silver (6th- 8th) started their day with a bleary-eyed, 7:15 a.m. check-in with 55 other teams from as far away as Dallas and the Rio Grande Valley. Over the next 11 hours, the teams participated in seven actionpacked, high-intensity judging sessions covering four categories:

• Research and presentation on this year’s topic of alternative energy
• Overall design of the robot
• Performance of the robot, and
• Teamwork + team cooperation when given an unknown, timed challenge

One surprise our girls faced was discovering that all ages were competing together, thus, our 3rd-5th graders were going up against seasoned 8th graders! Yet, despite the challenges of the day and their novice status as competitors, both of our FLL teams received positive reviews from the judges.

Run-it Silver came in 2nd out of the 60 teams in the area of Research and Competition, bringing home GSA’s first trophy for our now-needed trophy case! The Run-it Silver research team did an energy audit on the 1938 fire station on Windsor road. Their presentation was in the form of a play. The team also kept meticulous records of its research progress and editions of the play. The judges thoroughly reviewed everything that the team did, which included inviting guest speakers from Austin Energy and visiting the fire station twice.

The Flaming Robots received great reviews on the teamwork involved in their presentation and robot design. All the judges’ reviews mentioned how well the team worked together, and the fact that everybody took an active role in their presentation and design. The judges were also impressed with the way the team supported each other.

The Junior First Lego League tournament for Kindergarteners through 2nd graders was much more low-key, though still quite hectic and noisy! Designed to be a showcase and celebration of each team’s work during the semester rather than a competition, all of the participating JFLL teams were awarded trophies for their accomplishments. Our GSA junior teams received recognition in the following areas: Robotics of Robots: “Complexity and Decoration” and “Teamwork;” eBots: “Robust Design” and “Awesome Use of Pulleys;” and TeamworkBots: “Gracious Professionalism” and “Against All Odds” (their model broke and they had to repair it on the spot, during their presentation).

All five robotics teams worked hard throughout the semester, learning new skills, traveling paths for the first time, and growing together. We are proud of their accomplishments!!

The FLL Robotics teams thank the parents, volunteer coaches, students, and everyone who made this event such a smashing success for our school!