Potter’s Tech-No-Logic robotics team competes in SoCal First Lego League Finals

Potter Jr. High’s Tech-No-Logic robotics team was recently ranked 51st out of more than 450 teams nationwide at the SoCal First Lego League (FLL) finals, which were held Dec. 3 at Legoland.

Though this is the first year a robotics team has been formed at Potter, the group’s high scores allowed them to advance from the semifinals, which were held Nov. 5 at Poway High School. To prepare, the two Fallbrook teams, STEMTASTIC and Tech-No-Logic, met twice a week with Chuck Floto, the Potter Jr. High robotics team coach, to work on their design, programming, problem solving and project presentation.

The FLL is an alliance between For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology (FIRST) and the LEGO® Group. Its robotics program, for students age 9 to 14, gives them the opportunity to apply programming and engineering skills to their robot design. The program also teaches them valuable employment and life skills with an emphasis on its core values.

During the competition, teams programmed a robot using a LEGO MINDSTORMS® robot set to score points on a thematic playing surface, create an innovative solution to a problem as part of their Project, all while guided by the FLL Core Values. These three elements – the Robot Game, Project, and FLL Core Values – make up what is called the yearly Challenge.

“This year’s theme was Animal Allies,” said Floto. “We didn’t know what the theme was until August, and had eight weeks to get the challenges done.”

In addition, the robotics teams have to come up with a unique problem that has to do with the FLL league, research the problem, and create a unique, innovative solution to the problem. Once the research and planning is done, the teams are required to present their research to judges.

The Fallbrook team decided to create an omnicollar, which Floto described as a “Fitbit for a dog.”

“You can track your dog, take its vitals, and see statistics on its movement,” said Floto. “Pet owners can record and download information onto the Internet with the use of an app, tracking dogs health and activity functions. This is meant for those who leave their pets at home so they can be more involved in their pets’ lives even though they are busy.”

The team also used 3D modeling software to create a prototype.

On Dec. 3, the Tech-No-Logic team was able to show off their hard work and present before the judges.

“They also talked about their robot design, their core values, and sportsmanship,” said Floto.

In addition, their robot design was put to task as part of the Robot Game. While the team didn’t move on, Floto was proud of the fact that the team ranked 51 out of 450 teams around the world.

“You have kids working together for one common goal,” said Floto. “They are delegating and working on teamwork.”

While the beginning steps might be difficult, the trial and error elements of the robotics team are rewarding.

“This is very tough; kids are writing code and are programming to solve a problem,” said Floto. “It takes a lot of trial and error, and a lot of patients. This is a completely different experience, and the progress they make in those eight weeks is incredible.”

During its first year of robotics, 20 students signed up, which formed two robotics teams. Floto believes that there will be up to 60 students involved next year.

“They love it,” said Floto. “We advertised this activity and competition, and the enthusiasm is high. We imagine that next year we will have six teams of 10 kids.”

Female students are especially encouraged to try out robotics.

“Every year, I make a special effort to recruit girls,” said Floto. “Out of our 20 kids, five of them are girls. But after this activity, many girls have come to me and asked, ‘Can I do this next year?’”

Floto stated that while boys tend to be more known for loving Legos, girls can still thrive as part of Tech-No-Logic.

“To be a part of the program, someone doesn’t have to be totally into robots or Legos,” said Floto. “To have a great team, we need to have researchers, presenters, and people with overall leadership skills. We find that girls love it.”

There are various ways for students to get involved in STEM courses. In addition to robotics, Fallbrook Union Elementary Schools offer STEM classes as an elective.

“That class also involves robotics and coding, but not the competitive side of it,” said Floto. “[The robotics teams] is kind of like a sports team, and we are done right before winter break and disband until next year. But the plan for next year is to have this be an elective class during the day, in which I would teach coding and robotics. The idea behind that is to reach more kids who might have to take the busses and couldn’t attend because the club is currently an after school program.”

For now, the Tech-No-Logic robotics team is proud of their accomplishments, and Floto cannot wait to see what the next school year brings.

"I am always impressed by the high level of excitement, enthusiasm and teamwork the teams bring to the season,” said Floto. “I could not be more proud of both of them, and especially proud to be at the competition our first year.”