Robotic LEGO® competition held at Ayrshire College
School pupils from across Ayrshire competed in the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) FIRST® LEGO® League regional competition at Ayrshire College’s Kilmarnock Campus on Friday 13 December.
The competition for 9-16 year olds, organised in partnership with the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) and IET, involved creating autonomous LEGO® robots which the pupils would then programme to complete a series of timed challenges around a themed mat - under the watchful eyes of the judges at Ayrshire College.
Pupils from Arran High School, Auchinleck Academy, Belmont Academy, Dalmilling Primary, Greenwood Academy, Holmston Primary, Kincaidston Primary, Lamlash Primary School, Loudoun Academy, McLaren High School and Stewarton Academy entered the finals at the Kilmarnock Campus. The pupils were assisted on the day by staff and student volunteers from Ayrshire College, as well as leading engineering employers GE Aviation Services - Caledonian.
Scoring was equally weighted across four categories: robot performance, robot design, innovation project, and core values. Robot performance was scored by assessing whether the pupils’ robot was able to successfully complete a challenge as a result of how the pupils had programmed them. If the pupils needed to intervene and re-adjust the robot’s movements, points were deducted from their team.
The teams were also required to give presentations on their robotic creations, which were put together using LEGO® Mindstorms kits, to a panel of judges.
The awards of each individual challenge were:
Robot Performance – McLaren High School.
Robot Design – Stewarton Academy.
Innovation Project – Lamlash Primary.
Core Values – Dalmilling Primary.
Judge’s Award for Team Spirit – Loudoun Academy.
The Champion award on the day was McLaren High School.
As a result of their high scores, McLaren High School, Stewarton Academy and Greenwood Academy will now take their robots forward to the Scottish finals to be held in Perth in 2020.
Ged Freel, Head of Learning and Skills – Business and Computing at Ayrshire College, said: “This event has been a fantastic showcase of how fun and exciting engineering and computing can be.
“There was great enthusiasm shown by every school involved in Ayrshire’s FIRST® LEGO® League competition, and hopefully this event will help to encourage the pupils to think about pursuing a career in technology.”
Allan Carpenter, Curriculum Manager for Engineering and Science at Ayrshire College, said: “The FIRST® LEGO® League competition is a great way to get young people to understand the importance of working together as a team. It’s been fantastic to see the teams communicating effectively, solving problems, and dealing with crisis management!
“The competition was challenging, competitive, but most importantly fun.”
Wendy Findlay, Project Support Manager – STEM for ESP, said “ESP works on behalf of Scotland’s colleges to promote the energy, engineering and construction sectors. We also work with member colleges and key partners across Scotland to promote the Scottish STEM Strategy. We promote and advise on careers within the STEM sector and pathways into employment via both colleges and university.
“ESP is an education partner of the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET); we see The IET’s FIRST® Lego® League as an excellent opportunity for young people to develop the skills needed for their future careers; teamwork, planning, presentation skills and a project-based approach to learning.”
19 December 2019
Share this post
