GARY | Three Munster teams, two teams from Hammond, and a team from Kentland will represent their communities at the FIRST Lego League Indiana championship tournament Dec. 12 in Fort Wayne.
The six teams qualifying for the Indiana championship tournament are Destination Transportation, Loco-Motion and Sonic Bots from Munster, Eggers E-bots and Franklin's Transporters from Hammond, and the Techno Lions from Granger.
The teams qualified for the tournament Nov. 22 at the third annual IU Northwest Indiana FIRST Lego League Indiana Qualifying Tournament held in the Savannah gym at Indiana University Northwest.
A total of 19 teams from northern Indiana competed for the six spots in the championship tournament.
Nine teams were from Hammond (Edison Smarticles, Eggers E-Bots, Harding Mechanical Mayhem, Hess Hawks, Lincoln Smart Bots, Maywood Mustangs, Missing Pieces, Franklin's Transporters and Robotic Masters). Five teams were from Munster (Destination Transportation, Loco-Motion, Munster Buildinator Legend, Sonic Bots, and The Transporters). One team each came from Crown Point (MacArthur Mustangs), Granger (Techno Lions), Kentland (Rebel Robots), South Bend (Thunderbolts) and Westfield (Elite Shamrocks).
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology was founded by Dean Kamen in 1989 in New Hampshire. The nonprofit agency designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills, according to its Web site.
Students in both junior and qualifying categories research methods of transforming transportation. Smart Moves was this year's theme. The teams had eight weeks to research transportation and learn to work as a team.
Students in the qualifying tournament also had to learn to program a robot.
The robot was made from a Legos Mindstorms kit. The programs are referred to as missions and students earn points based on completion of the mission. The total number of points that could be earned is 400, Techno Lions from Granger earned the maximum amount in one of the three rounds.
Awards presented to the Jr. FLL teams are as follows:
Effort and Learning Award: Lots and Lots of Legos
Inquiring Minds: Schrödinger's Kitty Cats
Awards presented to the FLL team participating in the qualifying tournament included:
Rising Stars: Rebel Robots, Kentland, South Newton School Corp.;
Robot Performance 1st Place: Techno Lions, Granger, LaSalle Academy School;
Robot Performance 2nd Place: Loco-Motion, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Robot Performance 3rd Place: Franklin's Transporters, Hammond, Franklin Elementary;
Robot Design Programming 1st Place: Munster Buildinator Legends, School Town of Munster;
Robot Design Programming 2nd Place: Sonic Bots, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Robot Design Dependability 1st Place: Eggers E-bots, Hammond, Eggers Middle School;
Robot Design Dependability 2nd Place: Edison Smarticles, Hammond, Edison Elementary School;
Robot Design Innovative Design 1st Place: Robotic Masters, Hammond, Columbia Elementary ;
Robot Design Innovative Design 2nd Place: Mac Arthur Mustangs, Crown Point, MacArthur Elementary School;
Project Design Research Quality 1st Place: Lincoln Smartbots, Hammond, Lincoln Elementary School;
Project Design Research Quality 2nd Place: Missing Pieces, Hammond, Jefferson Elementary School;
Project Design Innovative Solution 1st Place: The Transporters, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Project Design Innovative Solution 2nd Place: Thunderbolts, South Bend, LaSalle Academy School;
Project Design Creative Presentation 1st Place: Harding Mechanical Mayhem, Hammond, Harding Elementary School;
Project Design Creative Presentation 2nd Place: Elite Shamrocks, Westfield, Westfield Washington Public Library;
Teamwork 1st Place: Maywood Mustangs, Hammond, Maywood Elementary School
Teamwork 2nd Place: Destination Transportation, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Teamwork 3rd Place: Hess Hawks, Hammond, Joseph Hess Elementary School
Awards presented to the Jr. FLL teams are as follows:
Effort and Learning Award: Lots and Lots of Legos
Inquiring Minds: Schrödinger's Kitty Cats
Awards presented to the FLL team participating in the qualifying tournament included:
Rising Stars: Rebel Robots, Kentland, South Newton School Corp.;
Robot Performance 1st Place: Techno Lions, Granger, LaSalle Academy School;
Robot Performance 2nd Place: Loco-Motion, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Robot Performance 3rd Place: Franklin's Transporters, Hammond, Franklin Elementary;
Robot Design Programming 1st Place: Munster Buildinator Legends, School Town of Munster;
Robot Design Programming 2nd Place: Sonic Bots, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Robot Design Dependability 1st Place: Eggers E-bots, Hammond, Eggers Middle School;
Robot Design Dependability 2nd Place: Edison Smarticles, Hammond, Edison Elementary School;
Robot Design Innovative Design 1st Place: Robotic Masters, Hammond, Columbia Elementary ;
Robot Design Innovative Design 2nd Place: Mac Arthur Mustangs, Crown Point, MacArthur Elementary School;
Project Design Research Quality 1st Place: Lincoln Smartbots, Hammond, Lincoln Elementary School;
Project Design Research Quality 2nd Place: Missing Pieces, Hammond, Jefferson Elementary School;
Project Design Innovative Solution 1st Place: The Transporters, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Project Design Innovative Solution 2nd Place: Thunderbolts, South Bend, LaSalle Academy School;
Project Design Creative Presentation 1st Place: Harding Mechanical Mayhem, Hammond, Harding Elementary School;
Project Design Creative Presentation 2nd Place: Elite Shamrocks, Westfield, Westfield Washington Public Library;
Teamwork 1st Place: Maywood Mustangs, Hammond, Maywood Elementary School
Teamwork 2nd Place: Destination Transportation, Munster, School Town of Munster;
Teamwork 3rd Place: Hess Hawks, Hammond, Joseph Hess Elementary School;
