On January 28, the First Lego League Challenge will take place at Technische Universität Ilmenau. In the research and robotics competition, students from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will compete against each other. Like real engineers, the 9- to 16-year-olds work in teams to design, program and test a fully automated robot and conduct research on a topic of their own choice from the field of energy. In three rounds of robot gaming and a presentation in front of a jury, they demonstrate their young researcher skills and can qualify for the next stage of the First Lego League Challenge. The winning team will be determined at the grand international finals on March 24 and 25 in Dresden.
Each year, the First Lego League Challenge revolves around a different current social challenge. The theme for 2022/23 is "SUPERPOWERED - The Energy of the Future." The competition takes place in four categories: In the "Robot Game," teams compete with their self-constructed and programmed robots. On a playing field measuring almost four square meters, the robots have to autonomously perform various tasks and thus collect points. In the "Research" category, the team that convinces with creative scientific solutions and a well-founded presentation of the research results wins. The trophy for the best "Robot Design" goes to the team that constructs an innovative, robust robot and explains the development process most coherently to the judges. And in the "Core Values" category, the team that shows the most enthusiasm, sportsmanship and respect for its own team members and for opposing teams wins. The team that gets the most points overall qualifies for the next stage of the competition before the grand Lego League finals on March 24 and 25.
At the regional competition in Ilmenau on January 28, 80 boys and girls from Ilmenau, Jena, Kronach, Oberweißbach, Sonneberg and Zella-Mehlis will compete against each other to determine an overall winning team. First, the 9- to 16-year-olds have to build and program an autonomously operating robot that solves certain tasks on a special playing field as quickly and error-free as possible in order to score a lot of points. They then present an innovative solution to a problem on the subject of SUPERPOWERED, which they have researched with the help of experts. An expert jury evaluates the teams and awards points in the categories Robot Game, Robot Design, Research and Core Values. So the kids and teens learn not only how to program, but also soft skills like teamwork and time management. The competition will start at 9 a.m., with the Robot Game rounds beginning at 9:45 a.m. and the finals taking place at 2 p.m. Representatives of the media and guests are welcome to attend all rounds of the competition. Schedule: www.tu-ilmenau.de/fll
Ilmenau is the venue for one of the 70 regional competitions in Germany for the second time. The fact that the elimination round is being held here is thanks to the initiators Volker Rusch and Udo Hegenbarth. Volker Rusch, Chairman of the Ilm District Committee for Schools, Culture and Sports, is the patron of the regional competition, and Udo Hegenbarth has supervised a Lego team at the Goethe School in Ilmenau for many years in previous Lego League competitions.
The TU Ilmenau receives organizational support for the realization of the competition from the regional companies CSI Ilmenau and the Förderverein Wirtschaftsjunioren Thüringer Wald e. V. Financially, the event is supported by:
- Avery Dennison Gotha
- Henkel & Roth Ilmenau
- Initiative Erfurter Kreuz e.V.
- plano solutions gmbh Ilmenau
- Rewe Digital Cologne/Ilmenau
- Savings Bank Arnstadt/Ilmenau
Contact
Jenny Gramsch
Division Marketing and Communication
+49 3677 69-3288
jenny.gramsch@tu-ilmenau.de
