Farmington Lego League team competes at World Festival

Members and coaches of the Sunny Side Up Lego Team at the Maine FLL state championship, left to right , back row: Coach Jim Guillaume, Coach Linda Beck, Thomas Marshall, Dylan Roberts, Mitch Guillaume and Alex Morrill Left to Right Front Row: Ellen Roberts, Nicole Perez, Grace Andrews, Ben Andrews, James Guilluame, and Coach Jan Roberts.

[Editor's Note: Farmington's Sunnyside Up Lego Team was at the First Lego World Festival in St. Louis, Missouri last week. Coach Jan Roberts writes below about the experience.]

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Sunnyside Up Lego Robots Team of Farmington left Monday morning in a drenching rain for the First Lego World Festival in St. Louis, Missouri.

Traveling in a rented van, they slowly made their way to Augusta and onto the interstate system. The rain intensified down I-495, stopping when the group left the coast. Lunch of packed sandwiches were served as we drove. Driving into rain again, we crossed the Hudson River into New York, then New Jersey. On to Scranton, Pennsylvania to tune of "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" by Harry Chapin. Making good time, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Buck Horn, Penn. for supper.

Driving after an hour-long stop, we ran into snow across I-80, then slept in Youngstown, Ohio. The next day we drove all day, reaching St. Louis as the sun was setting illuminating the Arch. Wednesday, we toured the St. Louis Zoo in the morning and then started the FIRST Festival.

We were chosen to be in the audience of the "Wouldn’t It Be Cool If..." made for TV special with Dean Kamen and Will-I-Am as judges. Dean Kamen spoke, telling all attendees they were already winners with the work they did to get to St. Louis, so enjoy and learn. Will-I-Am spoke about how the United States' science scores are so low, compared to the rest of the world. His foundation "I am First" is trying to help America become more innovative in solving problems the world faces.

Thursday the Coopertition began for three days. The team has earned the opportunity to view so many different projects solving Food Safety issues which is this year’s topic and to be exposed to so many different ways of solving the same robotic challenges in so many different ways from teams across the world. Most of all they have met innovative people from all over the world.

Our alliance team is from Singapore, who, like Maine's team, uses computers in their schools. It is exciting we have the same tools as one of the world leaders in education. In our pit area we are also next to Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brazil teams. Working together is exciting and learning we can compete on the world science stage is awesome!

Thursday started at 7:15 a.m. It was an exciting day as the team was judged on their science research on early salmonella detection in eggs using nanoparticles to detect unsafe levels of the bacteria much sooner than is possible presently. Directly after the 5-minute presentation and 10-minute Q&A session, the team had a short break.

Next they did robot design, programing and performance for three more judges. After another break, the team was judged on team core values. The judges were very interested in the history of this team over the last three years. Their performance and team work, earning second, first, and second for the state of Maine, and competing in the North American Championships last year were explored. They then had five minutes to choose a place to go and decide which 10 items to bring with them out of a choice of 20 laminated pictures. The team huddled and strategized for a minute then chose for four minutes. The judges asked how and why they chose what they did. The team having experience working and solving challenges together were pleased with their performance.

The rest of the day they were at their pit area meeting other teams, sharing and exchanging ideas all day. Also, the Lego Robot was run in two practice runs during the afternoon. After the first run it scored 24th, then as robots do, it went off on its own. So back to tweak the slight drift it was developing until 5 p.m. The evening welcoming of FLL was held at Bush stadium home of the world Champion Saint Louis Cardinals.

Every day and evening we walk by the magnificent Gateway Arch. The changing colors it reflects day and night are truly inspiring.

More information on the Coopertition can be found at http://firstlegoleague.org/

We are continuing to accept donations to cover the cost of playing on the world stage. Please send donations to Sunny Side Up payable to: Lego Robotics Team Franklin Savings Bank. Thank you!