The Ballston Spa High School’s FIRST Robotics Team #3044 will hosts a Hudson Valley FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Qualifying Tournament from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Teams from throughout the region will participate for the opportunity to advance to the upcoming Championship Tournament at Dutchess Community College in February 2017.
This year’s FLL challenge, Animal Allies, requires students to design a LEGO robot that can be programmed to operate independently on the competition table and accomplish several tasks related to human and animal interactions. The teams are judged based on the robot’s performance, design, core values and on a project that asks them to redesign how we manage our waste.
There will be 12 FLL teams from throughout the region competing in the tournament as well as three Jr. FLL teams. The Ballston Spa Central School District has fielded seven FLL teams for the 2016 season and one Jr. FLL team thanks to the donations of corporate sponsors. Teams from the Gordon Creek, Malta Avenue, Milton Terrace and Wood Road Elementary Schools, as well as teams from the Ballston Spa Middle School, will be participating in the competition.
The schedule for Dec. 3 is:
8:30 – 9:20am Scheduled practice runs at the competition tables
9:25 – 9:40am Opening ceremony
9:45am – 2:15pm Senior FLL competition throughout the day / Jr. FLL showcase
2:45 – 3:15pm Awards ceremony – All teams will be recognized
The tournament is sponsored by the Hudson Valley FLL, Dutchess Community College, FRC Team 3044 and the New York Tech Valley FIRST Sponsors which include GLOBALFOUNDRIES, GE, ASML, M+W Group, KLA-Tencor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, National Grid, Mattson Technology, Lam Research, Applied Materials, Turner Construction, Bechtel, SCREEN USA, Edwards, nfrastructure, Accumetra, Wonik IPS and PDF Solutions.
More information is available at http://www.sunydutchess.edu/legoleague/ or by emailing Ballston Spa K-12 Science Coordinator Diane Irwin at dirwin@bscsd.org or by calling the high school at (518) 884-7150.