My daughter, Kimberly, participated in a Legos Robotics Tournament this weekend. 48 teams from 1st through 8th grades were given kits to build a basic robot and from there they could customize it. Every year there is a theme and this year's theme was "Ocean Odyssey." There is a regulation size table with the exact same set up of Legos task at each one. The coaches are given the information prior to the compeition. The robots are not remote controlled, they have to be preprogramed to complete specific tasks. Each task might take an additional add-on tool or change to the bot. Each "run" starts with the robot in one specific corner of the table.
They get points for the technical 'bot runs, for reasearch and research presentations (our team did research on dolphins), teamwork and team spirit. The organizers place a big emphasis on fun and creativity. It's quite a well organized event, and the largest tournament we have in Ohio. My daughter's team consists of 5th and 6th graders (she's in 6th.) Out of 48 teams, they received awards for excelling in at least two catagories, a trophy for best team spirit, was one of the teams chosen to go to the State Tournament, and ....
My young'un won the door prize, which was a scholarship to a robotics "camp" next summer - worth several hundred dollars! We were thrilled! (Especially my husband, the engineer!)
Photography for this event was very difficult with my camera. You can see that the lights were dimmed very low, except for right over the table. I could not use a flash or infrared do to the fact that they might interfere with the robot's settings. Here are just a few of the over 300 shots I took as the official photographer / volunteer for the event.
The first photo is my daughter's team...taken in the "Tech Lab" at her school. I'm a proud mama...and she is in the gifted program of our district (all the team is from that program.) The team raised their own funds by doing chores and making crafts for a craft show at the high school. My daughter is the girl on the far right.
Okay...WAY more than what you wanted to know, but I thought some might find it interesting. Second pic below is from a group with "jellyfish" in their name...hence the headgear :)
  
  |
