What happens when technology, creativity and team spirit come together? The answer to this question was revealed on January 25, 2025 at the First LEGO League Challenge at TU Ilmenau Under the motto "Submerged - The ocean is more than what you can see on the horizon", the globally organized construction and research competition, hosted by Hands on Technology e.V., brought numerous young robotics enthusiasts to the university for the fourth time - and into the fascinating world of the deep sea.
"3-2-1 Lego!" was the motto for eight teams from Kronach, Ilmenau, Neustadt an der Orla, Jena, Oberweißbach, Gemünden am Main and Haubinda, who competed against each other in the First LEGO League Challenge regional competition at TU Ilmenau. The 9 to 16-year-olds had been preparing intensively for the competition since August 2024 and developed autonomous Lego robots that had to solve complex tasks in the centerpiece of the challenge, the Robotgame - as quickly and flawlessly as possible. For two and a half minutes, they raced across an almost four-meter-long playing field to feed whales, restore a coral reef, collect marine samples or recover a treasure.
The teams then presented the results of another task that had to be solved in advance - innovative solutions to challenges faced by marine researchers - to a jury of students and staff from TU Ilmenau as well as partners from industry and science: The creative minds' ideas ranged from underwater artificial intelligence (AI) to autonomous underwater vehicles and educational games. Not only did they learn a lot about marine life, they also addressed the question of how human behavior affects the health of the oceans.
Playfully promoting STEM skills
"In addition to the best result in the robot game, the prize for the most innovative robot design and the best research presentation, the First LEGO League Challenge is always about having fun," explains Jenny Gramsch from the Schülerforschungszentrum Ilmenau at TU Ilmenau:
It's always great to see how the young talents tinker with their robots together, share their knowledge, learn from each other and let themselves be inspired: how they control their robots with excitement, curiosity and playful ambition, seriously deal with important social issues and present their research results.
In addition to the teams' STEM skills, the six core values of the competition are also assessed at the end: teamwork, inclusion, impact, discovery, innovation and fun.
In the overall standings, the RoboFreaks from Kronach and the GGI R2D2 team from the Goetheschule Ilmenau came out on top. Both teams thus qualified for the next round of the competition in Regensburg.
Additional highlights this year were the Lego exhibition by Ilmbricks and a Lego hands-on building competition for families. Jenny Gramsch:
Special thanks go to the companies and initiatives that actively supported the event. Thanks to the professional support of FEM e.V. and Christian Koch from Treetop, the event was broadcast via livestream and thus reached a wide audience.
The winning teams
- Champion Cup
- 1st place: RoboFreaks from Kronach
- 2nd place: GGI R2D2 (Goetheschule Ilmenau)
- 3rd place: Team wall-e-bots (Neustadt an der Orla)
- Qualification for Regensburg: RoboFreaks (Kronach) and GGI R2D2 (Goetheschule Ilmenau)
- Category Research: Team ORCHIboter (Ilmenau)
- Category Robot Design: Team Wall-e-bots (Neustadt an der Orla)
- Category Basic Values: Team Plastikbots (Gemünden am Main)
Want to be part of it?
If you would like to be part of this exciting event, you can register with the Schülerforschungszentrum Ilmenau at sfz@tu-ilmenau.de .
Impressionen der FIRST Lego League Challenge
