High Tech Hornets Advance to Robotics State Championships

Gethsemane Lutheran School's robotic team from Maplewood, the High Tech Hornets, advanced to the FIRST LEGO League Challenge MN State Championship which will be held at the St. Paul RiverCentre & Roy Wilkins Auditorium on February 12th. The Hornets had a successful regional qualifier tournament at Woodbury Middle School on December 3rd by winning the Core Values award and scoring a robot performance score of 200 points. After outstanding performances and overcoming obstacles along the way, the judges selected the Hornets to advance based on a cumulation of their robot performance, core values, innovation project, and robot design.

This year's challenge focused on energy and encouraged teams to reimagine a better energy future. The team was tasked with identifying a real-world problem related to an energy journey and then had to research it and develop a solution. The Hornet's research was focused on tidal energy turbines, an emerging renewable energy resource, and the potential for these turbines to negatively impact wildlife in oceans. The team developed a working prototype of their solution, which was a braking mechanism for the turbines that stops based on a sensor that detects the animals. The braking of the turbine prevents animals from colliding with the spinning blades.

The team also had to design, build, and program a robot to perform various missions for the robot performance game. The Hornets spent months refining their robot design and developing attachments and start jigs to increase consistency for their missions. The hard work paid off when they scored a top performance score of 200, placing 6th in their subdivision.

Thirty six teams competed in the regional qualifying tournament and the judges advanced 7 teams to State, including the Hornets. The Hornets were ecstatic and shocked when learning they advanced. This was the Hornets first year in the FLL challenge robotics program and the season goals were focused on the learning experience, not advancement. The team is comprised of six students in 5th through 8th grade. "It has been so fun to see these students learn and grow over a season. They all have unique gifts and skillsets that they bring to our team. They have surpassed their goals on multiple occasions and I am so proud of their hard work," said coach Gerber.

The Hornets are eagerly awaiting to compete in the upcoming State championships and are diligently working to update their presentation materials and design some new programs to improve upon their robotic performance score.