BMS Team Triumph at Regional Robotics Competition 23 May 2022

On Thursday 05 May, a group of BMS students won an online East Region FIRST® LEGO® League CARGO CONNECT Challenge against seven other schools.

The FIRST® LEGO® League, established in 1998, is a programme which promotes participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects to children aged 4-16. Every year there is a new theme to the competition, and this year’s was CARGO CONNECT. This challenged the students to imagine innovative solutions to real transportation issues, by designing a robot to complete a set of transport-themed challenges on a regulation game board before a panel of judges.

The BMS team comprised ten students in Years 8 and 9, coached by Year 12 student and robotics enthusiast Edwin. Their robot had to be composed entirely of standard LEGO® pieces, built around motors and sensors which enabled the robot to be programmed to move and complete tasks. They were also sent the LEGO® pieces required in order to make up the different missions on the board. Within their allotted two and a half minutes, the students completed six missions to a high standard, scoring 215 points overall.

Of this process, Edwin explained: “The group went through many iterations to improve their design. Their first designs were fragile and would sometimes even break between sessions, but this was a great opportunity for them to learn through rebuilding. They made a much stronger model, which they eventually used in the final competition.”

Catherine Benson, Teacher of Design Technology at BMS, said: “It was so rewarding to see the students working together to accomplish this task. They worked extremely hard, and they were over the moon when they heard their final score. I was particularly impressed with how Edwin conducted himself, acting as a speaker for the entire group when discussing their final results with the judges. A huge well done to everyone involved.”