Three U-CFSD teams advance to Delaware First Lego League state championships

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on January 23, 2013

Three teams from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District will participate in Delaware's FIRST LEGO League (FLL) State Champion's Tournament at the Bob Carpenter Center on January 26, 2013. FLL is a world-wide robotics program for 9 to 14 year olds started by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway. FLL's mission is to get children excited about science, engineering and technology while teaching them valuable employment and life skills. The theme of this year's competition is "Senior Solutions" and FLL teams build, test and program an autonomous robot to solve a set of missions as well as research, develop and share their innovative solutions to improve the quality of life of Senior Citizens by helping them stay independent, engaged and connected to their community.

The three teams advancing to the State Champion's tournament are:

The Chef Bot-Ardees, who won the first place Champion's Trophy at the Delaware State University qualifying tournament, comprised of 7th graders Austin Hwa, CJ McClure, Jonathan Nguyen, KC Simmons and Dev Singh from Charles F. Patton Middle School and 5th grader Thomas McClure from Chadds Ford Elementary School;
Team NXTGeneration, who placed in the top 10 in the robot mission portion of the competition at the Patton Middle School qualifying tournament, comprised of 4th graders Sami Jafri, Sarah Linskens, Sanjay Raju, Kaylei Schneider and Stevie Thomas from Chadds Ford Elementary School and 6th Grader Anand Raju from Tower Hill School; and
Team Super Starbots, who also placed in the top 10 in the robot mission portion of the qualifying competition at Patton, comprised of 4th graders Ayrton Gilbert, Kyle Ketterer, Cody Poe, Nathan Sugimoto, Soumil Zachariah and 5th grader Chaemin Sohn from Unionville Elementary School.

The research component to the competition is equal to the robot missions and these three teams used their ingenuity and vision to develop innovative Senior Solutions. The Chef Bot-Ardees researched the connection between mobility, nutrition and overall health in Seniors. They researched common complaints about existing walker trays and created the "Magne-Tray" -- an improved walker tray that is made of sturdier lightweight plastic, has a balanced center of gravity, a deeper magnetized tray, and includes magnetized dishware so food and beverages won't slip or slide off. With a convenient way to transport food from kitchen to table, Seniors may be more likely to eat, which will improve their nutrition and overall health.

NXTGeneration researched the tripping and tangling problem posed by the 15 to 50 foot lengths of plastic tubing from oxygen concentrators used by Seniors in their homes. The long lengths of plastic tubing poses a tripping hazard to Seniors as well as others in their homes. To remedy this problem, NXTGeneration developed "Slidy-Tidy OxiGEN" -- a track mechanism attached to the ceiling on which the oxygen tubing glides using sliding guides keeping the tubing off the floor. Their invention will benefit Seniors who use oxygen concentrators or oxygen tanks and will prevent serious injuries from falls.

The Super Starbots met with Seniors affected by Hurricane Sandy and researched the essential items that are necessary for a Senior to have when an emergency weather situation arises. The Super Starbots developed a Senior "Go" Bag, which contained the most important items ready to go in case of an emergency evacuation situation. Items in the Senior "Go" Bag include bottled water, medicine, clothes, first aid kit, important paperwork (license, wills, insurance), sturdy shoes, a cell phone charger and cash. This invention will greatly benefit Seniors faced with a stressful emergency evacuation.