Students to participate in robotics competition -

Students representing approximately half a dozen Dorchester District 2 elementary and middle schools are among the 36 teams from schools across the Lowcountry scheduled to compete in a robotics tournament Saturday, Jan. 31 at Trident Technical College (TTC).
For the students, this weekend’s FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Lowcountry State Regional Qualifier tournament is the culmination of months of hard work.
Since August, students, ages 9-14, have spent countless hours designing, building and programming robots in preparation for the tournament.
The theme of this year’s competition is “Climate Connections,” which requires that the students explore the Earth’s climate and links between humans, science and the planet’s resources.
The robots, which the students built using LEGO tools such as sensors and motors, must be able to perform a series of two-and-a-half minute missions related to climate and the environment. Groups will be judged in four areas including robot performance, their research project (each group had to research a problem with the climate and develop a potential solution), technical presentation and teamwork.
Fifteen total awards will be handed out Saturday with first, second, and third place awards going to the top performers in each of the four abovementioned areas as well as awards going to the top overall teams.
Preparing for the competition and partaking in the tournament is an invaluable experience for the students, says Sam Speraw, tournament director and instructor at Trident Technical College.
“The students should grow from the teamwork and interaction with others,” Speraw said. “They should also develop a good knowledge base of engineering skills and learn about research and sharing with the community.”
Janice Jolly, DD2 Career Development Coordinator, says that students who participate in the Dorchester County Robotics Program must truly dedicate themselves.
“The students really have to buy in because it’s a ton of work,” Jolly said. “Hopefully they enjoy themselves, gain exposure as to what it takes to become an engineer and develop a passion that lasts from elementary school to middle school to high school.”
Saturday’s tournament will qualify teams for the FIRST LEGO League state competition to be held at Clemson University Feb. 21, 2009, where approximately 80 teams will compete with one team advancing to the world competition, which will be held in April 2009 in Atlanta, Ga.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization, has partnered with LEGO for years to help young people learn how science and technology can be used to develop solutions to real-life problems.
Local industries have donated time and money to the Dorchester County Robotics Program to ensure its success.
There is also a high school team that participates in the program and enters FIRST Robotics Competitions around the country.
Robotics Team 342 is made up of 36 high school students and mentors from Robert Bosch, LLC, SPAWAR and BAE systems. The students will enter a robotics competition in Georgia next month.
The Dorchester County Council has offered the team up to $10,000 to help cover costs. For the past few years, the council has sponsored the team for $10,000 to help them travel to and attend the competitions. The council will vote next month on the exact amount they will give the group this year, after looking at available funds.
“It’ a great (type) of program in technology that we don’t have enough of,” said Council Chairman Jamie Feltner.
Representatives from Team 342 will be at Saturday’s competition with information for students interested in continuing the robotics program in high school. For more information, visit www.team342.org.
The public is invited to observe Saturday’s competition for elementary school students free of charge. Competitions and practice rounds will be ongoing from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., with a break from noon until 1 p.m. The awards ceremony will take place at 4:15 p.m.
The tournament, which will be held at TTC’s Complex for Economic Development on Main Campus (7000 Rivers Ave., North Charleston, Bldg. 920), is run in conjunction with a food drive. Participants and spectators raised nearly 800 pounds of food last year and are encouraged to once again contribute to this year’s food drive.

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com