Kids walk in, innovators walk out
1 May 2015
News
Things are hotting up at the FIRST Robotics Open African Championships competition. On Thursday kids from 23 countries worldwide, some of them as young as nine years old, competed in the FIRST Lego League (FLL), alongside 11 South African teams. The FLL is a robotics programme aimed at 9- to 16-year-olds. The aim is to generate an interest in mathematics and science through the use of educational robotics. The building blocks are Lego.
Event manager Johannes de Vries says that in order to participate they have to advance from the regional to the national level, from where they get an invitation to an international competition, of which four are being held worldwide this year – one of them at AAF 2015.
This year the theme is alternative learning. The teams first have to find a research problem related to this theme, for example helping preschool children get ready for school or assisting elderly people to learn something new. They then have to come up with an innovative solution which can be shared with the community. Judging started on Wednesday and continues today. Teams are also able to have practice runs to calibrate the motion and colour sensors, for example. In the robot game they carry this through by performing up to 14 missions based on alternative ways of learning. For example in the ‘Open The Door To Learning' mission they have to push down a lever less than 0,5 cm in diameter on a door. “The motions they have to perform are extremely intricate,” says Johannes. He is seen here (right) with MC Dick van der Lee (middle) and scorekeeper, Corneel Hagg (left). The grand award ceremony will be held on Tuesday evening.
Come and experience for yourself the excitement and incredible skills these young people show at this exciting and vibey competition. It’s also a great opportunity to meet and interact with bright young kids from all over the world.
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