LKSD Lego Robotics Teams Advance to State

LKSD Lego Robotics Teams Advance to State
Posted on 02/15/2022
Lego Robotics competition

Two LKSD teams advanced to the Alaska FIRST LEGO League* championship in Anchorage.  Congratulations, and good work, to the Lego Wizards from Gladys Jung Elementary School and The Ayaprun Eagle Blimp Company from Ayaprun Elitnaurvik.

After months of robot programming and research on cargo solutions, 23 qualifying teams from around Alaska battled it out at the competition table to see whose robot could score the most points on the challenging field. The teams also presented their Cargo Connect innovative solutions project to the judges and answered complex questions about their robot design and innovative solutions.

FLL

The Ayaprun Eagle Blimp Company presented their Cargo Connect solution project to the judges and answered complex questions about their robot design and innovative solutions.

FLL FLL FLL

The Ayaprun Eagle Blimp Company’s Cargo Connect solution replaced slow barge and costly cargo jet service with blimps or airships that could deliver twice as much cargo as a 737 for the same price as barge delivery. 

The team expanded the solution, utilizing automated cars transported by the blimp to deliver goods once at the destination. Team members researched the cost of goods in Bethel and surrounding villages, Anchorage, and lower 48 stores and compared the price of shipping items by barge and plane. After speaking with airship industry experts and learning more about the science behind airship design, the team refined their blimp delivery solution and improved its delivery efficiencies. 

Following the research and the Challenge, the team prepared a 5-minute presentation explaining what was learned and how their innovative solution would be an effective real-world solution to the region’s high delivery costs.

At the end of the State Championship Tournament, the team placed 10th in the robot challenge. It was awarded the Breakthrough Award, which celebrates a team that made significant progress in their confidence and capability in both the Robot Game and Innovation Project, demonstrating a shining example of excellent Core Values and understanding that what they discover is more important than what they win.

The Lego Wizards  won the Rising Star Award for their Scan N’ Skip project. 

FLL FLL  

The team’s  solution to combat lengthy lines and wait times at post offices across the state utilizes a barcode system to help both postal workers and customers quickly retrieve mail. A barcode slip is created and given to the customer. The slip is scanned by the customer at the front desk. The scanned barcode is displayed on a large monitor in the back room, visible to the postal worker. 

The postal worker retrieves the corresponding package, which is put  on a rolling conveyor belt that travels to the front counter. The customer is able to pick up their package and leave the post office. 

The Scan N’ Skip offers a solution that will not only save the customer time in receiving their mail but will also help the post office manage and maintain an accurate inventory of packages waiting to be collected.  

The team’s coach Nicole Smith helped guide the team to victory. “Our biggest issue was reliability,” Smith said. “But between our regional qualifier and state, we worked hard on making the robot be more reliable by using the color sensor to follow lines — backing up in the walls to align the robot straight again — and conceptualizing how to put mission programs together to be more time efficient.” 

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the team worked hard and was dedicated to practicing before school throughout the season, learning about programming and coding. 

Great work, Ayaprun Eagle Blimp Company and The Lego Wizards!

*FIRST LEGO League is a STEM program for kids ages 4-16. Kids in grades 4-8 compete as teams in the LEGO League Challenge. They engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering-building, and programing a LEGO robot to navigate missions on a game table. The teams also research a project and identify and solve a real-world problem. 

This year’s FIRST LEGO real-world problem was Cargo Connect, and kids were asked to invent new ways to transport, sort, and deliver cargo to destinations. Students must perform both parts of this challenge while demonstrating the LEGO League 

Core Values:

We are a team. 

We work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.

We honor the spirit of friendly competition.

What we discover is more important than what we win.

We share our experiences with others.

We display gracious professionalism in everything we do.

We have fun. 

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.