Posted: 12:54 AM - Jan 10, 2006
From The Winchester Star – Monday 6th Jan 2006
BOYCE — LEGOs have taken on a whole different meaning
for eight Clarke County boys.
Although they still enjoy constructing the usual things with the small plastic bricks — buildings, vehicles, bridges, and animals — they also put many hours each year into designing and programming a LEGO robot for the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League competitions.
The boys, ranging in age from 9 to 14, are members of a FLL’s affiliated team, the Bricksters, based in Clarke County. Although the competition season ended in December, the boys, dressed in their team’s T-shirt, gathered at one of their member’s houses in Boyce last week to demonstrate the talents of the robot they built for this year’s FLL’s regional and state contests.
The Bricksters formed in 2004 and merged with another team, the Robo Raiders, which Julie Kerby coached for three years.
Pete Engel, who has a son on the Bricksters, was that team’s first coach. Kerby is now a coach for the Bricksters along with Branson McKay.
Kerby said parents helped form the teams because they wanted an opportunity to provide an activity that was “mentally stimulating and would get their kids to start thinking and problem solving, while learning to work in teams.”
“It has turned out to be as exciting as a sport’s activity,” Kerby said.
The eight-member team — James Kerby, 13, Evan McKay, 9, Ryan Hofmann, 14, Simon McKay, 12, Erich Engel, 11, Gregory Kruza, 9, Max Cardillo, 9, and Jacob Carroll, 11 — began working on the 2005 FIRST-designed challenge project, Ocean Odyssey, in the fall.
The purpose of that challenge was to help participants learn about the earth’s oceans, while studying computer programming, mechanical design, and problem solving. Activities began with ordering a $150 challenge kit that came with a FIRST LEGO League membership and included everything but the robot and a table the kids helped build to hold the components.
The robot was built with the LEGO MINDSTORM kit, which included a microcomputer called the RCX, as well as motors, lights, and touch and rotation sensors.
“They built the robot with LEGOs to house the RCX and motors and sensors to run it,” Kerby said.
The team members also wrote a computer program telling the robot how to navigate through the tasks of the challenge project, provided by FLL, and laid out on the tabletop.
“After writing the program, they downloaded it into the RCX,” Kerby said.
Once the robot begins its job in the competition, the team can not touch it until its mission is complete.
In addition to building a robot, team members had to prepare for a technical interview by the judges and had to do a research project on the underlying science and how robots could be used to solve oceanography problems.
“Our team opted to present their project in a skit,” Kerby said.
In December, the Bricksters competed at the FLL’s state tournament in Blacksburg, after placing at the regional event a month earlier in Harrisonburg.
Although they didn’t win at the state level, the Bricksters’ robot placed ninth in the state event.
“There were only three teams that went to the state competition from our regional event,” Kerby said. “There were about 65 teams competing at the state [level].”
“We were big fish in a little pond at regional,” Kerby continued, “but when we got to the big pond at state, we were a little fish.”
Still, Kerby, Branson McKay — who is also a coach for the Bricksters — and the team members were proud of their showing.
“We had a great time,” said Evan, a fifth-grader at Boyce Elementary School. “I think we did pretty good this year.”
Ryan, a 14-year-old homeschooler, agreed with Evan, but James, a seventh-grader at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, thought they could have done better.
“But I certainly am looking forward to this year’s competition,” James said.
Engineers In Training: Area LEGO Team Builds Robots For
State, Regional Competitions
By Linda McCarty
The Winchester Star
By Linda McCarty
The Winchester Star
 Erich Engel (from left), 11, Jacob Cardillo, 11, James Kerby, 13, and Simon McKay, 12, experience some difficulty with the robot built by the Bricksters, a Clarke County-based team that participates in competitions held by the FIRST LEGO League.
(Photos by Scott Mason) |
Although they still enjoy constructing the usual things with the small plastic bricks — buildings, vehicles, bridges, and animals — they also put many hours each year into designing and programming a LEGO robot for the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League competitions.
The boys, ranging in age from 9 to 14, are members of a FLL’s affiliated team, the Bricksters, based in Clarke County. Although the competition season ended in December, the boys, dressed in their team’s T-shirt, gathered at one of their member’s houses in Boyce last week to demonstrate the talents of the robot they built for this year’s FLL’s regional and state contests.
The Bricksters formed in 2004 and merged with another team, the Robo Raiders, which Julie Kerby coached for three years.
Pete Engel, who has a son on the Bricksters, was that team’s first coach. Kerby is now a coach for the Bricksters along with Branson McKay.
Kerby said parents helped form the teams because they wanted an opportunity to provide an activity that was “mentally stimulating and would get their kids to start thinking and problem solving, while learning to work in teams.”
“It has turned out to be as exciting as a sport’s activity,” Kerby said.
The eight-member team — James Kerby, 13, Evan McKay, 9, Ryan Hofmann, 14, Simon McKay, 12, Erich Engel, 11, Gregory Kruza, 9, Max Cardillo, 9, and Jacob Carroll, 11 — began working on the 2005 FIRST-designed challenge project, Ocean Odyssey, in the fall.
The purpose of that challenge was to help participants learn about the earth’s oceans, while studying computer programming, mechanical design, and problem solving. Activities began with ordering a $150 challenge kit that came with a FIRST LEGO League membership and included everything but the robot and a table the kids helped build to hold the components.
The robot was built with the LEGO MINDSTORM kit, which included a microcomputer called the RCX, as well as motors, lights, and touch and rotation sensors.
“They built the robot with LEGOs to house the RCX and motors and sensors to run it,” Kerby said.
The team members also wrote a computer program telling the robot how to navigate through the tasks of the challenge project, provided by FLL, and laid out on the tabletop.
“After writing the program, they downloaded it into the RCX,” Kerby said.
Once the robot begins its job in the competition, the team can not touch it until its mission is complete.
In addition to building a robot, team members had to prepare for a technical interview by the judges and had to do a research project on the underlying science and how robots could be used to solve oceanography problems.
“Our team opted to present their project in a skit,” Kerby said.
In December, the Bricksters competed at the FLL’s state tournament in Blacksburg, after placing at the regional event a month earlier in Harrisonburg.
Although they didn’t win at the state level, the Bricksters’ robot placed ninth in the state event.
“There were only three teams that went to the state competition from our regional event,” Kerby said. “There were about 65 teams competing at the state [level].”
“We were big fish in a little pond at regional,” Kerby continued, “but when we got to the big pond at state, we were a little fish.”
Still, Kerby, Branson McKay — who is also a coach for the Bricksters — and the team members were proud of their showing.
“We had a great time,” said Evan, a fifth-grader at Boyce Elementary School. “I think we did pretty good this year.”
Ryan, a 14-year-old homeschooler, agreed with Evan, but James, a seventh-grader at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, thought they could have done better.
“But I certainly am looking forward to this year’s competition,” James said.