North Vancouver, BC – May 6, 2011 – Buildbots Robotics Team, composed of five children from North and West Vancouver, will represent B.C. and Canada at the FIRST® LEGO® League North America Open Tournament in LEGOLAND® California, from May 21 to 22, 2011.

Andrew Zheng (10), Daniel Alfonso-Vargas (10), Joshua White (12), Mark Robertson (11), and Stefan Kovalski (11)*, members of the BuildBots Team, qualified to participate in the FLL Open North America Tournament by achieving excellent results at the FIRST® LEGO® League B.C. Provincial Championship last November. 

* Absent from Picture

This year’s championship, known as Body Forward, will see 76 teams from all over North America participating in a two day tournament, testing their robotic creations and highlighting their research projects in the field of biomedical engineering.

The teams had three months to design, build, program, and test an entirely autonomous LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robot, which could not be directly controlled by the team at any time during the match.

During the qualifying tournaments, each team’s robot competed in an obstacle course, tasked with missions as diverse as repairing bones, putting stents in an artery, and screening blood cells. Students had two and a half minutes per round to complete as many missions as possible.

The children also presented slideshows and took part in interviews focusing on the strengths of their robots’ technical design as well as their ability to work as a team.

An important part of the challenge is a research project in the field of biomedical engineering. As a result of careful fact-finding and consultation with real-world experts in the field, the Buildbots team created a new design for a prosthetic arm tailored to playing sports. The team has also been working closely with the CHAMP Organization (Child Amputee Program) to create awareness across schools on how life can change abruptly and how important it is to prevent accidents and Playing Safe.

About FIRST® LEGO® League

FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) is a not-for-profit partnership between the LEGO® Group and FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/

About CHild AMPutee Program (CHAMP)

Created in 1975, the CHild AMPutee (CHAMP) Program is built on the Winner’s Circle philosophy which encourages child amputees (Champs) to accept their amputations and develop a positive approach to challenges.

The CHAMP Program, which offers comprehensive services to child amputees and their families, is unique in the world. These services provide financial assistance for artificial limbs and various recreational devices as well as emotional support through programs such as Matching Mothers, Seminars and Junior Counselling. Access to a wealth of information resources is also available.

http://www.waramps.ca/champ/home.html

About Buildbots Robotics Club

Buildbots Robotics Club is a North Vancouver-based educational program that was founded in 2001 by two computer engineers, who realized that building robots as a group can teach children not only many aspects of science and engineering, but also soft skills like facilitation, analytical thinking, negotiation, and teamwork. Over the past decade, Buildbots has been instructing children in robotics both independently and at North Vancouver schools. During that time, their competitive team has won numerous awards at provincial tournaments, including the B.C. Provincial Championship Award, and has represented Canada at the World Festival in Atlanta in 2007.