On Saturday November 6, robotics teams from Albert Harris and Patrick Henry elementary schools, and Martinsville Middle School participated in the Martinsville Regional Qualifying Tournament, virtually, at the middle school.
The teams competed in a two-part tournament. The first part was judging their Robot Design, Innovation Project, and Core Values. The teams virtually presented to a panel of judges the week leading up to the robot game. The students had three two-and-a-half minute matches to complete as many missions as possible for the CARGO CONNECT challenge. This year the challenge was for the robot to deliver cargo to different forms of transportation or target locations around the field.
The following MCPS teams earned awards:
PHES’ ToGo Bots – Champion’s Award (Division 1)
AHES’ KidzBot – Core Values Award (Division 1)
PHES’ Great Anty Bots – Robot Design Award (Division 1)
PHES’ Royal Bots – Judges Award
PHES’ Great Anty Bots – Robot Performance Award 1st place (Division 1)
MMS’ Absolute Zero – Core Values Award (Division 2)
Other participating MCPS teams were PHES’ Deliverators, AHES’ Smart Kids, and MMS’ Magical Unicodes.
Great Anty Bots and ToGo Bots will be advancing to the VA-DC FIRST LEGO League Championship that will be held at James Madison University in December.
“As a team member on the Great Anty Bots I have learned a lot,” said Great Anty Bots team member Arianna Ybarra. “It’s not about winning; it is all about learning and having fun. This year I learned how to make PowerPoints for judging and it is fine to make mistakes but don’t make the same ones repeatedly.”
“This is the second year I have been part of the robotics team,” said Great Anty Bots team member Zoey Hannans. “I really love it because we learn new things, we play games, and my team members are nice, kind, and funny.”
“As an all-girls team it was amazing to see the girls’ confidence grow in building and coding the robot,” said Great Anty Bots Coach Liz Lynch. “It is another language that they learn and the problem solving, collaboration, and teamwork that they showed was remarkable. I hope they continue to apply their FLL knowledge, and I firmly believe these girls will build a better for future for us all.”
“All the teams did a fantastic job and showed their enthusiasm for robotics and teamwork,” said the school division’s STEM and Math Coordinator Jill Collins.
