National Lego champs now build towards world finals
A team of young engineers from Bath has been crowned champions at a national Lego competition. They lifted the trophy at the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) First Lego League UK and Ireland competition final. They will now represent the UK on the global stage when they attend the First Lego League World Festival in Detroit, USA, in April. The winning team – called L2O – is made up of Alister Guenther, Joshua Guenther, Monty Burrows, Fraser Samuels, Luther Gaineswhite, and Thomas Blethyn. The boys range from 14 to 16 years old. As well as being crowned champions, the boys also took home the awards for Robot Performance Award and Robot Game Knockout Award. The runners-up were Tech Heds, a team of home-schooled students from Wiltshire. The science and technology challenge, for 9-16 year olds, tasks teams to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and create an innovative solution to a real world problem. This year’s “Into Orbitsm” challenge was all about space – how humans survive for extended periods in this environment. The winning team impressed the judges with their advanced robotics skills, as well as with their project which is about improving the way astronauts carry out repairs to their spacecraft on long distance space missions. The team’s solution is a temporary balloon-like enclosure that encompasses the whole craft and is pressurised with air to allow astronauts to work inside it without the need to wear cumbersome and restrictive spacesuits. Alister said: “Receiving the Champions Award at the finals has been an amazing experience. When we were going up to collect our award, we were overjoyed that all our hard work had paid off and we would encourage others to participate as the First Lego League is a great way to learn about engineering, computing, teamwork and time management.”