Young minds show robotics skills for Old Mill Road Competition

Fourth and fifth graders in the Robotics Club gathered in the Old Mill Road gymnasium with their teammates and were equipped with all the tools they needed to build and program a robot made of Lego. They brainstormed intricate designs that would help their robot accomplish the task at hand: grab a tennis ball without it rolling away. Solutions had to be inventive, such as one team’s design that dropped a Lego-made cage over the ball. Coding was developed throughout the competition that instructed the robots’ maneuvers. In a final face-off, one ball was dropped in the middle of the court to see which robot could capture it the fastest. Each student who participated received a medal and certificate of completion. 

Photo caption: 
1)    Old Mill Road School students tinkered with their Lego robot designs during a competition held on April 18. 
2)    Teams worked together to design an efficient robot and functional code. 
3)    Different solutions were designed for robots to effectively grab a tennis ball. 
4)    Each of the four teams who competed received a medal and certificate of completion. 

Photos courtesy North Merrick School District