Springs School’s two robotics teams, along with their coaches, were all smiles Saturday because they received a total of three awards at the Long Island LEGO League Robotics Tournament at William Floyd High School.
The Lightning Bots, coached by Laura Foti and Erik Schwab, scored 270 points and qualified for the Long Island championships on March 10.
The Thunder Bots, coached by Tracey Frazier and Danielle Hamilton, scored 190 points.
The teams were required to give three oral presentations: one for their innovation project, one for core values, and one for their robot design. This year the innovation project needed to focus on spreading music and arts around the world and innovative ways to make art accessible for all. It was very open-ended.
The Thunder Bots received the 1st Finalist Innovation Project Award. Their project and presentation were based on a way for people with visual impairments to experience art. They used a texture system, where a different texture corresponds to a different color. For instance, red was lace, and purple was velvet. This means that the visually impaired could essentially feel the art.
The Lightning Bots received two awards. The first was a Mentor Award, given to their coaches. The team nominated their coaches for this honor, and the judges at the tournament decided that they deserved the award. The Lightning Bots also won a Core Values Award for their excellent demonstration of innovation, discovery, inclusion, fun, impact, and teamwork.
During the tournament, which started at 7 a.m. and ended at 1:30, both teams competed in robot challenges, in which their robot completed as many missions as possible in two and a half minutes. The team coded the robot to do certain tasks. For instance, the robot may have to push a lever up and down, or it might have to push a button to trigger an effect. Both teams did very well during this event. The teams were also expected to demonstrate the core values throughout the day.
Back at the Ospreys’ nest, students are wishing the Lightning Bots good luck as they work toward the March 10 championships and congratulate the Thunder Bots on an amazing job this season.
By Rafaela DeMartis, grade 7, and Adrie Quinn, grade 8