There were 23 teams from all over NM and 10 local teams. Of these local schools 2 (US + !) made it to the State Championship competition in Albuquerque which will be held on February 10th, 2018. This competition will have a total of 36 teams, the best of the best from all over the state.
Our team, the H.O.T Squad, earned the Champions Award and also received two more awards, one for Robot Performance, plus a Global Innovation Award. It is a rare occasion when a team wins two awards
The Champion’s Award recognizes a team that “embodies the FIRST LEGO League experience, by fully embracing our Core Values while achieving excellence and innovation in both the Robot Game and Project.” All candidates must meet the following requirements:
- Robot: The team must score in the top 40% of all teams participating in the Robot Game at the event.
- Project: The team must complete all parts of the Project, including the identification of a real world problem related to the Challenge theme, creation of an innovative solution and sharing their research and solution with others, as well as any other season-specific requirements that may exist.
- Core Values: The team must adhere to all Core Values throughout the event and the season.
Ixchel Valentino and Riley Morris built their robot from scratch not using any blueprints, all of their own design. They also programmed the robot to run a course with certain tasks and obstacles. Our team’s robot drivers are Ithan and Ixchel Valentino. They have to learn how to set up the robot and add the attachments for the tasks in under 2 mins 30 seconds. This is the most stressful of roles on the team! The Robot was demoed at the 12/6 Rotary meeting.
Our team will have the chance to compete at the State Championship to represent our region. Upon winning they would then go on to compete in Washington DC against others. Our team could win $20,000 to develop our idea or use the money to continue our education with FIRST LEGO League.
Rotary saw our presentation on our innovative idea! We think we stand a really great chance of moving on! Our project Leader is Joshua Walsh. He is currently incorporating this idea with his Science Olympiad competition in late January. At that time he will have a full scientific method record of the data we have collected.