A group of Becker students is excited to be attending the state competition for First Lego League Robotics. Wyatt Kaproth, Sophie Blum, Keaton Zierden, and Samantha Wolfson (team name: Curiosity 21022) have been working hard at weekly meetings to build and program a robot made from Legos to complete real-world tasks.

Lego Robotics

First Lego League Robotics provides students with all the tools necessary to design, build, and program a robot to complete certain tasks. This year, the theme is “Cargo Connect.” The Becker students have designed a robot that can transport other vehicles and move cargo around the table, all without being touched or by using a remote. 

The robot is programmed with coordinates on a large table which directs it where to go. The students spend time coding the robot to tell it exactly where to go. The missions rely on precision and lots of trial and error.

But the students aren’t only judged on their ability to complete tasks, but also on innovation, design, coding, and core values (teamwork). 

In preparation for the state competition, the students have been hard at work with their build, and keeping meticulous notes on what works and what does not. 

This will be the first time the students progress to the state competition. The event will take place Feb. 26 in Hermantown. It’s a great honor to advance to state, and if the students place high enough they have a chance to move on to nationals. 

Innovation Project

The students were also excited about their innovation project. This encourages the students to find a real life problem in their school or community and design a solution. For their project, the students decided to find a better way to bring in school lunches. 

Currently, food for school lunches is shipped in by truck and hauled in with boxes. The students thought they could make this process much simpler by creating a zamboni-style vehicle which could carry in all the supplies and even move between schools. The vehicle could also keep food hot or cold. The students planned to talk to school lunch staff to ask about what problems the workers regularly face and see if they could find a solution.