Lego League Competition
Saturday, November 14, 2009

November 14, 2009

Intellectual competition takes on a new and fascinating form as children team up to build and program robots that compete against each other. Fourteen Orange County teams of children ages 9 to 14 will compete in using robots to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical issues: transportation. The theme for the 2009 First Challenge is “Smart Move”. Winners from this tournament will advance to the next round event at Legoland in Carlsbad, California.

The key to the 2009 “Smart Move” Challenge is accessing people, places, goods and services in the safest, most efficient way possible. In this journey, teams will consider many modes of transportation beyond their daily routine and streamline their options by making smart moves! The Smart Move Robot Game gives teams a first-hand experience in getting a sensor-equipped vehicle (the Lego robot) to gain access to places and things, while avoiding or surviving impacts, all in a test environment.

The tournament challenges teams to use science and technology as they build, program and test an autonomous robot to compete with other teams’ robots in an obstacle course. Teams have the option of using Lego® Mindstorms® or Lego Mindstroms NXT to build their robots for the challenge. The teams have eight weeks to design and refine their robots before putting them to the test by completing a series of missions on the obstacle course. Each team also writes and presents a research assignment based on the tournament’s theme.

Competition Sponsors:

AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

The Boeing Company