VICKSBURG, Miss. - “The tournament was great and I couldn’t have asked for a better event,” said Eddie Melton as the 2013 Central Mississippi FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League (FLL) Tournament coordinator for the Nov. 16 robotics event at the Vicksburg Convention Center.
Mississippi hosted regional qualifiers for the first time, with the north regional in Starkville, south regional on the Gulf Coast, and the central regional in Vicksburg. A total of 18 FLL teams with up to ten members each competed in Vicksburg.
With an estimated attendance of 1,000 elementary through high school students, parents, coaches, and volunteers, the Vicksburg event was hosted by FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 456, Siege Robotics, and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) Team 3486, Techno Warriors Advanced, with support from sponsors Lockheed Martin and ERDC. ERDC scientists and engineers mentor five elementary teams from Vicksburg, plus the Carver Middle School team from Raymond, Miss.
Melton said the majority of the volunteers were either U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) team members or high-school students from the local Siege Robotics team and Techno Warriors Advanced team of Brandon, both sponsored by ERDC. Additionally, the majority of the judges were adults connected with ERDC.
An Environmental Laboratory (EL) staff member, Melton commended fellow ERDC employees, including Chuck Dickerson, EL, judge adviser, for supporting the inaugural FIRST® Robotics Competition in Vicksburg. “We couldn’t have pulled it off without the support of the ERDC family and their dedication to improving our community. We will be putting in a bid to host the state contest for next year,” Melton said.
FLL provides students in 4th-8th grades with a three-part competition, including the LEGO®-constructed performance robot, a themed project, and learning the FLL core values, which stress finding solutions, having fun and teamwork.
This year’s theme centered on the “Nature’s Fury Challenge,” where team members studied earthquakes, storms, and waves to develop natural disaster safety solutions and aftermath damage repairs.
In the table performance, team handlers had to get their LEGO® robot to a designated disaster area to assist injured victims, while referees scored points for successful operations within a timed round.
All award winners
The ERDC-sponsored teams from the Vicksburg area schools won the following awards:
- #529-South Park Bulldogs, South Park Elementary School, Programming Award;
- #8795- Bee-Bots, Beechwood Elementary School, Teamwork Award;
- #9178- Vicksburg Victors, Vicksburg Junior High, Mechanical Design Award;
- #9728-River City Robotics, Dana Road Elementary and Vicksburg Intermediate School, Inspiration Award; and
- #11688-Bovina Brigade, Bovina Elementary, Research Award and Robot Performance Award
FIRST® defines itself as a nonprofit, public charity that designs accessible, innovative programs to motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills.
“We want to take equations off the chalkboard and show these children real-world applications, and we want them to have fun doing it,” Melton said.
Winning teams from the Vicksburg competition now advance to the Mississippi championships, scheduled in March 2014 in Hattiesburg, Miss.