North Carolina Youth Robotics Team a Finalist in 2022 FIRST® LEGO® League Global Innovation Award

CARY, N.C. - June 15, 2022 - PRLog -- Twenty finalist teams are advancing to the 2022 FIRST (https://info.firstinspires.org/global-innovation) LEGO League Global Innovation Award presented by Qualcomm. The Darth Rappers were selected from tens of thousands of teams from more than 110 countries for their outstanding Innovation Project. Their solution has demonstrated strong design, innovation and the potential to add significant value in the world. The Darth Rappers invented 'MILE'NIUM F.A.L.C.O.N (last MILE delivery of vacciNes In an aUtonomous Mini-Freezer-on-A-drone for Life-saving medicines and COvid vacciNes) for the CARGO CONNECT℠ season. Getting COVID vaccines or other medicines can be impossible for hard-to-reach communities because of inaccessible roads, a lack of drivers, and an unreliable cold chain. What if there were an autonomous drone with a freezer for last-mile delivery? That is just what the 'MILE'NIUM F.A.L.C.O.N is - active cooling on an autonomously flying Raspberry Pi-based drone for delivery of vaccines and other medicines.

FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9 to 16-year-olds to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable career and life skills.

On June 23 at 5:30 p.m. CT on the FIRSTtv Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/firstinspires), the Global Innovation Award will culminate with a live awards show, hosted by youth and featuring a live innovation activity.

"When our team saw the inequitable impact of COVID on people in low-income countries, we decided to do something about it. And that was the origin of MILE'NIUM F.A.L.C.O.N. We spent countless hours brainstorming, building, iterating, seeking feedback, and refining our solution that we hope will have a great impact on COVID and other emerging diseases," said Ganapathi Pamula of The Darth Rappers. From improvements to the water cycle to innovative solutions to waste management, past FIRST LEGO League Innovation Project finalists have brought their inventions to market, received patents, and incorporated as businesses.

The 2022 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award presented by Qualcomm are sponsored by Collins Aerospace, FedEx, John Deere, and LEGO^® Education and in collaboration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

About FIRST^®
FIRST^® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured after-school programs. Learn more at firstinspires.org (https://www.firstinspires.org/).

About The Darth Rappers

The Darth Rappers has 4 team members from elementary and middle schools from the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina. In response to past years' innovation challenges, they have generated two patent applications on past project ideas, published an App on Google Play Store, and built fully functional prototypes.