​Two local teams advance after competing in Kincardine FLL regional qualifier

Two local FIRST Lego League Challenge (FLL) teams have advanced to the provincial finals in Oshawa in January, after finishing first and second for the Champion’s Award at the qualifying regional held Saturday, Nov. 25, at Kincardine District Senior School.

The Master Pieces won the championship, while the Master Builders came second and won the Innovation Project Award. Both teams are comprised of Grades 4-8 students in Kincardine and Ripley.

Hosted by the Kinetic Knights Robotics Team (FRC Team 781), the FLL Masterpiece challenge is part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program. The art-inspired challenge focused on the teams’ creativity to imagine and innovate new ways to create and communicate art across the globe.

The teams have been working on their robots, their innovative projects and their presentations throughout the fall, with the help of their coaches, and this competition was their opportunity to demonstrate everything they had learned.

Besides the Kinetic Knights volunteers and referees, the event featured several volunteer judges. Teams played games on competition fields where their robots had to complete a number of missions for which they had been programmed. By the end of the day, it was a tough contest for the judges to determine the winners.



The Master Builders (left) and The Lego Team compete at the FLL regional qualifier in Kincardine, Nov. 25

During the closing ceremony, besides the awards presented to the advancing teams, the following were also presented:
 

• Robot Performance Award – Dot Dot Dot of Kincardine and Ripley
• Coaches Award – Tim Moriarty of Master Builders of Kincardine and Ripley
• Volunteer Award – Carter Frook of the Kinetic Knights
• Robot Design Award – Robot Builders of Kincardine and Ripley
• Core Values Award - The Lego Team of London

The Kincardine regional was funded through FIRST Canada and Kinetic Knights Robotics.