Knox roars past the competition in regional robotics

Students became allies of the animal kingdom and showed off their robotics skills during the regional Lego Robotics competition held in Hazard on Saturday, December 10.

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The problem “Animal Allies” is challenging students to build a robot and solve a real-world problem that relates to our furry, feathered, and finned friends.  In addition to building a robot that would transport the animal, students must research the animal that they selected and help develop a solution that would protect it against humans.  Also part of the competition is a team interview and a spontaneous problem that the teams learned about the day of the event.

All eight (8) teams representing Knox County received awards during the regional event, with the top four (4) teams earning the right to advance to state which will be held at Northern Kentucky University on February 4th.  Top teams from Knox earning the right to advance were the Knox County Middle “Master Minds” (first overall), the Central Elementary “Panther Imagineers” (third overall), and the Knox County Middle “Mind Masters” (fourth overall).

 december-2016-284 Knox County Middle School’s “Nerd Herd” won the Rising Star Award.
 december-2016-290 Knox County Middle School’s “Los Genios” won the Inspiration Award.
 december-2016-294 Knox County Middle School’s “Mind Masters” won fourth (4th) place overall.
 december-2016-307 Knox County Middle School’s “Master Minds” won the Robot Game Award, the Style Award, and received first (1st) place overall honors.
 december-2016-303 Central Elementary School’s “Panther Imagineers” won third (3rd) place overall honors.
 december-2016-278 Dewitt Elementary School’s “Roaring Robots” won the Presentation Award.
 december-2016-298 Girdler Elementary School’s “TigerBots” won the Future Tech Award.
 december-2016-296 Lynn Camp’s “Wildbots” won the Engineering Award.

Students participating in the competition learn more than robots and animals as emphasis is placed on the core values of Lego.  By embracing the values, students learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.december-2016-310

The core values of the Lego Robotics are:

  • We are a team.
  • We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
  • We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
  • 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® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
  • We have FUN!

 

The Lego Robotics League is an alliance between FIRST Robotics and the LEGO Group.  For more information about Knox County’s participation in Lego Robotics contact Jennifer Carey at jennifer.carey@knox.kyschools.us or Travis Mills at travis.mills@knox.kyschools.us.

Posted on December 16, 2016