Posted on 04/06/2017
The Francis Howell School District (FHSD) continues to spark innovation and creativity with a variety of programs for students. On Friday, March 3, students in the Robotics Clubs at Saeger, Barnwell, Bryan, and Francis Howell Middle Schools competed in the General Motors LEGO Challenge at St. Charles Community College.
Teams were comprised of four to six students, tasked with building and programming LEGO robots to carry out assigned functions. Each team’s design, presentation, and “accuracy of deliverables” was then judged, including items such as bid proposal forms and time sheets. The ultimate goal is to get students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and what better way than a battle of the bots?
“We’re very proud of our students and to represent FHSD in this competition,” said Karen Flood, Saeger’s Robotics Club sponsor. “I was completely overwhelmed with the professionalism I saw from all of our teams. I know a few of our students may not have placed, but everyone did a phenomenal job!”
The competition is designed to give students a real-life perspective on what it takes to build a robot, and even offers career preparation. Each team was required to estimate how much the robot would potentially cost in a career setting, the number of hours the students needed to build the robot, and the cost of materials.
Team members were assigned different jobs such as safety engineer, mechanical engineer, and project manager. The job of the robot was to pick up a block assembly, and place it in the designated drop location. The robot was also required to demonstrate the ability to repeat the process for more than one block assembly.
“I really love this competition,” said Sydney Tran, a member of The Flashy Kartoffels team. “We had an all-girls team. We were proud to show everyone what girls can do with robotics. Robots aren’t just for boys.”
“I believe the real takeaway from this competition is seeing our students naturally gravitate toward finding their passion in engineering,” said Barnwell Robotics Club Sponsor Heather Tomicich.
Congratulations to all those who participated. Below are the names and final finish of the teams from each FHSD middle school.
Saeger Middle School
|
Team Name
|
Place
|
Division
|
|
The Flashy Kartoffels
|
1st
|
Blue
|
|
Fin Dovah Kriid Team
|
2nd
|
Gray
|
|
The Dream Team
|
2nd
|
Green
|
|
Fruity Pebbles
|
3rd
|
Maroon
|
|
The Meme Team
|
4th
|
Blue
|
Francis Howell Middle School
|
Team Name
|
Place
|
Division
|
|
The Dream Machines
|
1st
|
Gray
|
|
The Brobots
|
5th
|
Green
|
|
Loading…
|
7th
|
Gray
|
Barnwell Middle School
|
Team Name
|
Place
|
Division
|
|
Hex-Tech
|
1st
|
Green
|
|
Spare Parts
|
1st
|
Maroon
|
|
Drop the Beet
|
2nd
|
Maroon
|
|
Funky Pandas
|
2nd
|
Blue
|
|
Lamborghini LEGOs
|
3rd
|
Green
|
|
Eggo My LEGO
|
4th
|
Maroon
|
|
Robota Kings
|
4th
|
Gray
|
|
Error 404
|
6th
|
Blue
|
|
Wheel Sponsor You
|
6th
|
Gray
|
|
That 70s Team
|
7th
|
Green
|
Bryan Middle School
|
Team Name
|
Place
|
Division
|
|
Cool Kidz
|
4th
|
Green
|
|
Fractal
|
5th
|
Blue
|
|
Cyber Geeks
|
5th
|
Maroon
|
|
6 Cyber Girls
|
6th
|
Green
|
|
Danger Noodles
|
7th
|
Blue
|
|
Tech Boyz
|
8th
|
Gray
|
|
Nightfall
|
8th
|
Maroon
|
|
The Dukes
|
9th
|
Maroon
|
|
Cyber Titans
|
9th
|
Gray
|