In the FOOD FACTOR Challenge, teams built, tested, and programmed an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT to solve a set of food safety missions as well as research, develop, and share their innovative solutions to improve the world’s current food preparation processes.
FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 14-year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group in 1998, based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.
The following teams received these awards:
Awards
Team #
Location
Team Name
Champion’s 1st Place
5318
Girl Scouts of Nassau County (GSNC), Hicksville
GSNC LEGOchicks
Champion’s 2nd Place
3438
Bayport
RoboPhantoms
Mechanical Design 1st Place
5
Bayport
Peaced Together
Mechanical Design 2nd Place
782
Locust Valley
Sweeney Llamas
Programming 1st Place
778
Locust Valley
Baybots
Programming 2nd Place
739
Carle Place
Carle Place Middle School
Research 1st Place
5321
GSNC, Merrick
GSNC Merrick Masters:)
Research 2nd Place
4774
Merrick
Full Metal Alchemist
Innovative Solution 1st Place
8867
Dix Hills
Awesome AHAPers
Innovative Solution 2nd Place
775
Locust Valley
Kung Food Fighters
Presentation 1st Place
3307
Hewlett-Woodmere
WMS Bulldogs
Presentation 2nd Place
6124
Smithtown
Viking B.Y.T.E.S.
Robot Performance 1st Place
6254
Floral Park
Brick Heads
Robot Performance 2nd Place
5
Bayport
Peaced Together
Teamwork 1st Place
3707
Middle Island
Longwood Lions Green
Teamwork 2nd Place
9514
GSNC, Oceanside
GSNC Digital Darlings
Gracious Professionalism 1st Place
859
Port Washington
Congo Bots
Gracious Professionalism 2nd Place
5319
GSNC, Hicksville
GSNC LEGOtronettes
Strategy & Innovation 1st Place
3252
Baldwin
Teach Me How To LEGO
Strategy & Innovation 2nd Place
777
Locust Valley
Roboteers
Inspiration 1st Place
5317
GSNC, Merrick
GSNC Catastrophic Moves
Inspiration 2nd Place
3270
Huntington Station
Let Me Think
Judge’s Award
11781
Copiague
Copiague Robotics
The Champion's Award recognizes a team that embodies the FLL experience by fully embracing the core values of FIRST while achieving excellence and innovation in both the robot game and the project. The award winners will be invited to participate in one of the two FLL U.S. Opens on either May 4-6 in Florida or on May 18-20 in LEGOLAND in California. (Both are invitation-only.)
Sponsors of the tournament included SBPLI-LI FIRST; Longwood Central School District; Massapequa Union Free School District; Brookhaven National Laboratory; FIRST; Sideboard Computers; Farmingdale State College; The Law Office of Jeffrey Stern; Lisa Cohen; the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District; Sir Speedy of Plainview; and Robert Woods of LEGO Education.
Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. First LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 14-year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.
“Like every season’s Challenge, the details of the Robot Game are related to the theme,” said Jacob Kragh, President, LEGO Education. “In FOOD FACTOR, robots are tasked with the safe transportation and preparation of food, exploring pest control, food temperatures, and pollution as they navigate from the various starting points of our food to the place where it is consumed.”
Janet Anderson, FLL Director, SBPLI, said: “We are pleased to coordinate the Long Island FIRST LEGO League Tournament. It is an extension of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Together these programs are opening a world of technology, science, and engineering to so many Long Island students, helping to build our high tech workforce of the future.”
For more information about School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, visit www.sbpli.org.
* Photo is available upon request. Individual photos of the winning teams are also available upon request.
ABOUT FIRSTTM
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRSTTM (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world’s most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST LEGO® League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.
ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP
LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen:
FIRST is a trademark of US FIRST.
LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group. © 2009 The LEGO Group.
# # #
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) was founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses that would provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce. Over 100 partnerships have been formed. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program to Long Island, where eight high school teams participated. Since then, the FIRST robotics program has grown to 50 teams, with over 2,300 students participating in FIRST Robotics and LEGO League programs on Long Island each year. The 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition will be held at Hofstra University on March 29-31, 2012.
