WOS students advance to State in robotics

A three-person West Orange – Stark Elementary School team comprised of fourth and fifth grade students defeated a field of 12 other teams and took second place honors in the regional LEGO Robotics Challenge sponsored by the Texas Computer Education Association in December.

The WO-S Elementary team of Rionna Sparrow, Shaelin Brown, and Dax Fregia will now advance to the State Robotics Meet which will be held in this spring.

WO-S Elementary Robotics Sponsor Amy Craig said, “In the invention competition, students began by using a guide book to learn all the functions available to the Lego robots. Then the students brainstormed for an invention idea that would solve a problem that exists today. “

This WO-S team developed the “G-Bot,” a gardening robot.

“This robot tills your garden and plants your seeds without you having to bend over. It is geared towards elderly gardeners that do not want to give up their love for gardening but do not have a strong enough back to work bent over in the garden all day,” Craig said.

The students approached their problem using the Engineering Design Process. They built the robot out of the robotic Legos and programmed it using computers.

They also marketed the product and gave a presentation to the robotics judges.

Craig said, “Now that they are advancing to state, the students will revise the ‘G-Bot’ and make it even more convenient for their target audience.”

First and second place teams automatically advance to State where they will again compete against teams comprised of third through eighth grade students.