Bright sparks face off in Lego League
The Hoërskool Rob Ferreira team took first place and will now, together with Prorobots and Probomeritz (Protec), have the opportunity to compete in the national tournament later this year.
MBOMBELA – On your marks, ready, set Lego!
This was the countdown to each and every Lego robotics challenge that greeted young bright sparks from all over Mpumalanga at the First Lego League (FLL) regional final that took place at Laerskool Bergland on November 1.
The Hoërskool Rob Ferreira team took first place and will now, together with Prorobots and Probomeritz (Protec), have the opportunity to compete in the national tournament later this year.
Teams needed to use all their engineering, science and maths skills to get their Lego robot to complete a number of predetermined challenges on a Lego board.
It was amazing to see the level of expertise of the teams and how they used their logic to come up with some creative ways of completing their tasks, all in the allotted time of two minutes and 30 seconds.
The robot is preprogrammed on a laptop with software where the minutest details can be changed, such as the level of rotation and the direction in which the robot travels on the board.
The pressure was on as groups needed to be on top of their game with the clock ticking away. The teams which completed the most tasks scored the highest points.
This was not the only important factor that the judges focused on. According to Mark Schormann, manager of Protec, “the core values are the most important components and the judges look at team spirit and sportsmanship throughout the competition. Learning is about having fun,” he said.
The project that learners had to create also focused on how learning could be improved in a certain subject.
Parents and friends cheered enthusiastically and watched in fascination at the robots moved from one obstacle to the next. “Sometimes the robot goes into zombie mode, learners then have to take it back to the home base, but then unfortunately get penalised.”
Schormann explained the robotics’ unpredictable nature. “One of the key elements of this challenge lies in operations research and the ability to minimise problems.”
After three rounds of the competition, two teams faced off against each other and it was finally time to decide the big winners of the day.
Every participant received a medal with five teams receiving trophies in specific categories. Mind Busters won the trophy for the most promising young team, while Prorobots walked away with the trophy for best mechanical design and accuracy of design.
Creative Eagles, all the way from Swaziland, won the most creative team award based on its depth and quality of research with its project.
Lego Loaded won the trophy for most enthusiastic team as the members’ teamwork was an inspiration to the rest of the teams.
There will be an African Nations Tournament in the future where the top 15 teams from South Africa will compete to further enhance their skills and create awareness about the importance of science and technology among the youth.
