2021 is a big year for Hungary’s LEGO robot building communities
For the first time this year, Hungary hosts the local rounds of the FIRST LEGO League competition, a joint initiative by FIRST, one of the world’s largest robotics communities, and leading global building toy manufacturer LEGO. The more than 90 teams registered for the competition participate in five regional qualifiers. The two winners of the national finals in Budapest will qualify for the global finals in Greece.
The third regional finals initially scheduled to take place in Győr was organised virtually due to the pandemic. The competition was won by the Storms team of Andretti Károly Primary and Art School of Sóskút. This team was made special by the large number of girls in it (4 out of 6). The runner up was Mobilis Bits MRGT, a team delegated by Mobilis Győr Science Experience Center. The best coach award went to Norbert Boros, teacher preparing the team from Mobilis. The first two teams are qualified to participate in the national finals of 29 and 30 May whose winner will enter the international finals in Greece. The third place went to the GanzGamerz team of SZC Ganz Ábrahám Secondary School of Zalaegerszeg. This team was also winner of the “Best Team Spirit” and “Breakthrough” special awards. The “Motivation” special award offered by Telenor was granted to the Block Breakers team of GySZC Bolyai János Secondary School of Mosonmagyaróvár.
A robot building competition? What is it about?
The teams need to design and build a robot capable of carrying out a sequence of tasks based on a specific theme. All teams use the same model table, components, sensors and engines, but due to participants’ creativity and LEGO’s versatility, every robot is unique in its looks and task-specific modules. The teams spent weeks fine-tuning their robots to make them proceed through the track as efficiently and as smoothly as possible.
“I’m always impressed by the creative solutions invented by the students and the joy they find in developing practical solutions to abstract tasks. I was especially delighted to see that Storms, the team winning the event in Győr was comprised mostly of girls, as robotics and science are often considered to be boys’ subjects. At the competition, not only the winners but all teams learnt how to complete a project highly complex even for adults together as a team using basic physics and maths skills without knowing it. This is what the HiperSuli program and the FIRST LEGO League competition have in common: they prove that you can learn and teach science subjects in a joyful and entertaining manner”, said Balázs Koren maths teacher, digital education expert and head of Telenor’s HiperSuli program.
The last regional finals in Budapest and Debrecen will take place next weekend. These two events are expected to have the highest number of participants and they will delegate 3 teams each to the national finals on 29 and 30 May.
The main sponsor of the Hungarian rounds of the robot-building and problem-solving competition is Telenor Hungary, while its professional partner is Telenor’s HiperSuli digital education programme. Six teams of four schools participating in the HiperSuli program are enrolled in the competition.
A summary compiled from the students’ videos is available at the YouTube channel of the HiperSuli program. For the detailed agenda of the competition please visit https://play.firstlegoleague.hu/replay.htm.
Short video spots about the competition:
• “Even robots deserve a hug sometimes” (Néha a robotoknak is jár egy ölelés) :) – Vernie, the cousin of the robots entering the competition had a walk in the city for some friendly hugs. This is how the man on the street responded to his request: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0nr1k02Vmw
• “Robotics in education” (Mit keres a robotika az oktatásban?) – A video about students preparing for the competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbUVtNuRJjQ
About FIRST
FIRST® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the challenges of the coming decades through a suite of team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. Being a leading global international non-profit educational organisation focused on science, engineering, technology and maths, FIRST runs programs combining experience-based education with team sports. Every year, there are more than 450,000 children joining First LEGO League competitions organized by FIRST and LEGO® in 110 countries worldwide. Learn more about the Hungarian competition at https://www.firstlegoleague.hu/