Local Youth Preparing for Lego Championship

For months now, groups of fourth-to-eighth graders from Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth have been hard at work assembling, programming, and perfecting their custom-made Lego robots, with team meetings building in intensity as the deadline approached.

Now, it’s down to the last few days, for the FLL Robotics Tournament takes place this Saturday, Jan. 14, on the campus of Roger Williams University in Bristol.

“We started in September, meeting once a week, but lately we’re up to at least twice a week for two or three hours each time,” said Jason Moore, coach of “CLAW OPS: Dragon Squad,” one of four Aquidneck Island Robotics (AIR) 4-H Club teams.

AIR is a 4-H club dedicated to mentoring local youth about science, technology, engineering, and math subjects. Last year, .

Also competing this Saturday are local teams from All Saints’ Academy in Middletown, in Portsmouth, ENRICH Homeschool of Newport and the Newport Community School. A total of 60 teams from across the state will compete. 

Moore’s team had a three-hour meeting scheduled Sunday afternoon to practice for the three parts of the championship—a Robot Game, where each team’s robot must complete missions on a game board; a “Food Factor” Project, unique to this year’s competition, and a presentation about Robot Design and Programming.

“The idea for the Food Factor Project is to have each team pick a food item and figure out everything that happens with that item, from the time it is planted in the ground to the time it ends up being consumed,” explained Moore.

Some teams invent a robotic device that is related to the project. Moore said his team raided one of the kid’s kitchens to get ideas for what the theme of their Food Factor Project would be. It’s a secret until this Saturday.

The formal title of this year’s championship is the Rhode Island FIRST Lego League Food Factor Championship. “FIRST” is an acronym of  “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” a non-profit group founded to inspire young students to participate and take interest in science and technology, according to organizers.

This Saturday’s event, the 11^th annual championship, begins at 11 a.m., and ends with an awards ceremony at 4:15 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mary Johnson at 401-588-1136 or visit the FLL Web site.