Robotics teams excel at regional comps

Sematics 101 with coach Jane Hollett, team mentor Ella Schurmann and coach Greg Hollett at the Werribee Regional competition. (supplied)

Two robotics teams from Geelong Lutheran College Armstrong Creek are off to Melbourne to compete in this weekend’s First Lego League SE National competition.

The teams qualified for the event at recent regional competitions.

The First Lego League Challenge has teams of students aged nine to 16, designing, building, testing, and programming a Lego robot that can complete missions on a table-top course. In addition to creating a robot, teams also have an innovation project to present to judges. The theme of this year’s innovation project is focussed on energy.

This year GLC Armstrong Creek had two teams take part in the regional challenge.

Sematics 101 was made up of six Year 6 students and won the Robot Performance Award and were runners up for the Champions Award for their Lego robot at the Werribee regional competition on Friday 18 November.

The Sematics 102 team is comprised of five middle school students (Years 7 to 9), whose robot, Torg, won the Robot Design Award at the Richmond Regional Event on Saturday 5 November.

Coach Greg Hollett also took home the Coaches Award at the same event.

The two teams are jointly coached by GLC Armstrong Creek teacher Jane Hollett and husband Greg, with the program one of several extra-curricular activities open to students.

Having qualified at the two regional events, the two teams will compete against teams from Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia at the First Lego League National SE Competition at Noble Park on Saturday December 3.

“Our talented robotics students in the First Lego League Challenge extra-curricular program have excelled this season, and represented our college with wisdom, honour and purpose,” GLC Head of College Jill Lange-Mohr OAM said.

“Our whole college is proud of both teams’ achievements to date, and we wish them all the very best for the upcoming national competition.”