Trash clash: Waste-handling robots to compete at FIRST LEGO League provincial championship

Oshawa, Ontario — On Saturday, January 16, LEGO robots designed by some of Ontario’s brightest young minds will take over the joint University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Durham College (DC) campus as both institutions host the annual FIRST LEGO League’s (FLL) Ontario East Provincial Championships. FIRST is an acronym that means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

Nearly 400 students (ages nine to 14); more than 1,000 parents, siblings and coaches; and 200 volunteers, judges and referees will be on hand for the competition, which encourages students to apply math and science concepts to complete a project mission and compete in robot games.

This year’s project mission, TRASH TREK, challenged students to make less trash or improve the way people handle the trash we make. After choosing a piece of trash as their focus, competitors identified a problem and the way it is currently dealt with. They then had to find out what is being done to solve the problem and design an innovative solution of their own. Each team will present their solution to the judges during the tournament.

For the robot game, teams designed, built, programmed and tested autonomous robots using LEGO Mindstorms software. The robots must perform a series of tasks, or missions, within a two-and-a-half minute time limit. The game and its missions often symbolize solutions to some of the problems presented in the challenge theme. The missions are performed on a standard FLL playing field, under a set of rules.

When:

Saturday, January 16

Time:

• 7:30 a.m. – Pits open
• 8 a.m. – Judging and practice rounds begin
• 10:10 a.m. – Opening ceremonies
• 10:50 a.m. – Judging and practice rounds continue
• 11:50 a.m. – Lunch
• 1 p.m. – Callbacks
• 2 p.m. – Official robot matches begin
  • Note: This will be the peak time for photographers or videographers to capture visuals of all the action.
• 5 p.m. – Closing ceremonies

Where:

Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, Ontario

Media are asked to sign in when they arrive at the media sign-in table outside of gyms 3, 4 and 5.

Parking:

Free parking is available in Founders lot 2 and 3.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Patricia Pickett
Communications and Marketing
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT)
905.721.8668 ext. 6710
patricia.pickett@uoit.ca