Cumming Elementary School Students Excel at Robotics Competition

Members of the RoboDragons include (l-r) Lane Stiffler, Nickolas Koerner, Noah Dotson, Emma Turner and Rajeshwari Raja.

By James Dotson, Matt Elementary School “RoboDragons” team coach

The Matt Elementary School RoboDragons won third place overall Saturday at the Georgia First Lego League Championship Tournament at the University of Georgia’s Miller Learning Center. The “Champions Award – Third Place” award represented the team with the third-highest combined score in the robotics competition.

The event was one of two state championship events held in Georgia this year. The other was held at Georgia Tech Jan. 24. Sixty-four out of 500 FLL teams across Georgia were divided evenly between the two tournaments after advancing from regional and super-regional qualifying events.

Other robotics teams from Forsyth County Schools which participated in the tournament were the The Beasts from Mashburn Elementary and the RoboKnights from Sharon Elementary,

Each year in early fall, FIRST LEGO League releases a themed, three-part Challenge based on a real-world scientific topic to develop project-based skills through a Robot Game, a Project, and a signature set of Core Values which comprise the overarching way in which the Challenge is completed. Teams of up to 10 children, with two adult Coaches, participate in the Challenge by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game) and developing innovative ideas that improve current conditions and add value to society (Project). Past Challenges have been based on topics such as natural disasters, biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, quality of life for handicapped and senior populations, and transportation.