High-level Legos - Students' software-controlled robots tackle climate change at tourney

QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: EOU student Scott Kausler, left, points out something to Cove eighth-graders Corina Clark and Marshall Baybado during a FIRST LEGO robotics tournament Saturday at EOU. Kausler was serving as a referee at the tournament. - DICK MASON/The Observer

They brought the toys to life in ways Denmark’s Ole Christiansen, who invented LEGOs in the late 1930s, never could have imagined.

LEGO robot vehicles programmed and operated by students ages 9 to 14 performed challenging maneuvers during which they had to protect small crash-dummy type models at the annual Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League regional qualifying tournament.

About 120 students from the Cove, Elgin, Union, Helix, John Day and Monument school districts took part in Saturday’s event. The students, using infrared sensors, motors and ever-changing computer programs — completed difficult tasks within strict time limits.

Children and teenagers maneuvered their robots in the spacious open central area of the EOU Science Center before their peers, judges and parents. Cheering was sometimes so loud it almost seemed like a sporting event was under way.

“It was loads of fun,’’ said Jonathan Miller, a Cove eighth-grader.

The Six Shooters of Cove was the top team Saturday, winning the grand champion title.

All six members of the team will receive a $2,000 scholarship to EOU. The students, should they attend EOU, will receive $500 a year for four years. The members of the Six Shooters are Marshall Baybado, Corina Clark, Molly DelCurto, Jayden Moore, Dylan Pretti and Sam Gekeler.

The Cove Six Shooters plus six other teams qualified for the FIRST LEGO League state championships Jan. 16-17 in Hillsboro. Those also qualifying for state were first runnerup, LAMBO, Union; second runnerup, Brick Builders, Union; third runnerup, Team Rock Star, Cove; fourth runnerup, Gearheads, Union; fifth runnerup, LEGO Monsters, Union, and Robo Clan, Monument.

Teams have been preparing for the tournament since September.

Union had the most teams entered with 10. Union High School science teacher Greg Poor said he had no difficulty getting his students motivated to prepare for the tournament.

Poor noted that on Thursday, school at UHS was let out at 12:30 p.m. because of parent-teacher conferences. All students were free to leave, but many members of FIRST LEGO robotic teams stayed at UHS until 7 p.m. to work on their robots.

Members of one of Elgin’s robotics teams talk with EOU student An Do Saturday during a FIRST LEGO League tournament at Eastern. The Elgin students shown are Jack Lathrop, Thomas Wall, Cameron Hallgarth, Charles Martin and Andrew Luse. All attend Stella Mayfield School. Do was serving as a referee at the tournament. - DICK MASON/The Observer

Team placings were based in part on how each competed in three rounds of robotic competition. After each of the first two rounds, students made programming adjustments so that their robot could perform better in the next session. The adjustments were made via laptop computers and then downloaded via wires or infrared scanners into robots.

Teams often completed tasks in the third round that they had unsuccessfully attempted in the first two rounds.

“When they get it, it is pretty gratifying,’’ said EOU computer science professor Frederick Pratter, the tournament’s head referee.

Pratter is one of many EOU faculty who helped coordinate the tournament. The list includes director Richard Croft, an EOU computer science and multimedia professor, and biology professor Laura Mahrt, the tournament’s volunteer coordinator.

From left, Kasi Miller, Kaci Langford, Brooke Stewart and Shikira Yeager of Union’s A.R.T. (Amazing Robotics Team) undergo questioning by judges during the Project Challenge phase of Saturday’s competition. - CHRIS BAXTER / The Observer

“I asked one of the refs if he wanted to take a break. He said, ‘No, I’m having too much fun,’’’ Pratter said.

The tasks students had to complete with their robots on the board Saturday in some ways were more difficult than they were at past First LEGO tournaments.

“The table was more complicated,’’ Poor said.

The UHS teacher explained that sensors had to be used this time to guide robots, adding to the challenges students faced.

Cove Middle School teacher Erich Dressen, the coach for Cove’s First LEGO program, said one factor that helped students this year is that vehicles they had to operate were smaller. This made it easier to maneuver through tight places.

Student teams received points notonly for how they did on the table competition, but also for how they fared in robot design, on a research project presentation and on a teamwork problem they were assigned. The teamwork judges were EOU math professors Amy Yielding and John Thurber and physics professor Tom Herrmann. The research project judges were chemistry professors Anna Cavinato, Jeff Woodford and Colin Andrew, and the teamwork judges were physics professor Tony Tovar, math professor Steve Tanner and Jason Yielding, a freelance engineer. The head judge was biology professor Shaun Cain, and the scorekeeper was psychology professor DeAnna Timmermann.

Team scores were generally more tightly bunched than in previous years.

“This shows that the coaching and the work by teams is improving,’’ Pratter said.

Teams learned how they fared at an awards announcement in Huber Auditorium following the tournament. It was a tense time for some students.

“I was busy crossing my fingers hoping that our teams would do well,’’ said Cove eighth-grader Mikayla Murchison, a member of Team Rock Star, which qualified for state.

Dressen could not have been more pleased with how his Cove teams performed.

“They did an awesome job. They worked hard, and it was nice for them to have a payoff,’’ Dressen said. “Eastern does a tremendous job of putting this on.’’

The FIRST LEGO League robotics competition has been conducted internationally since 1999. In 2008, 13,700 teams competed worldwide. This is the sixth year EOU has been the host of the Northeast Oregon FIRST LEGO League tournament.