M-SET-sponsored competitions train the next generation

Local kids got a taste of robotics during the annual Saratoga High FIRST Lego League (FLL) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) qualifying tournaments held over the weekend of Nov. 21-22.

The FLL challenge, which engages students ages 9 to 14, is a small competition where students design robots out of lego parts and sensors to complete pre-assigned tasks. The challenge this year was called Trash Trek, where 16 teams of around five members had to make their robots remove waste from a Lego dumpster and move a Lego garbage truck to a processing plant, among other tasks.

“Although the actual game and robotics is an important aspect of FLL, it isn’t the only focus,” junior outreach officer Nicole Lin said. “Children also need to find a real-world problem revolving around trash and come up with a design that is presented to judges.”

According to Lin, the whole point of FLL tournaments is to help create a community approach to getting students involved in robotics and STEM.

The Sunday FTC competition was meant mainly for middle schoolers.

The FTC challenge for this year was Mountain Rescue. The objective of the game is to create a robot to be able to drive up inclined metal rungs and collect cubes and Wiffle balls and place them in plastic bins.

The challenge made it become a bigger and more complex tournament than the previous day’s, but it was just as much fun.

In FTC, the students need to design an 18-by-18 inch robot that is able to perform tasks such as climbing a hill made of metal rungs and scoring plastic cubes and balls in a plastic container.

Music teachers Andrew Ford and Jon Pwu were the emcees for Saturday’s tournament, while junior Daniel Koh had the duties for the Sunday FTC tournament.

“It was great to be right next to the field and see what the teams had built up close while commentating over what was happening during the match,” Koh said.

At the end of the day teams 8375, vulcan robotics from San Mateo, and 6688, Lambda Robotics from Mission San Jose High School, both advanced to the next round of competition.

“It was really cool to see so many children these past two days win these awards,” Lin said. “It was unbelievable that as a student in Saratoga I am able to help in some way to make sure the students get this opportunity to grow and expand.”