Robosapiens

On the Wednesdas 27 April, the MGSC RoboSapiens went to the Swinburne University of Technology in Wantirna to take part in the FIRST Lego League Challenge. We had been preparing for this competition since September 2021 as it had been delayed due to COVID. We were a team that was made up of students in year 8-12 but we turned out to be the only all-girls STEAM group at the competition!

The competition had two parts, the first part was programming the EV3 Mindstorm robots to complete different missions all around the mat. The second part was to make and present an innovation project. For our innovation project, we focused on making Drone Delivery accessible to Victorians by taking into account the weather, potential bird attacks and by providing jobs to people who would work remotely. To make the presentation interactive the team made a model of the drone using 3D printing, cardboard and lots of electrical circuitry. 

We were all very nervous as this was our first ever competition and some of us had never done coding before this. But in the end, our hard work paid off as the MGSC RoboSapiens came back with smiles on their faces and the Engineering Excellence award. The award was given to the team with the most efficient and innovative robot design and having a creative idea for the innovation project. We are super excited to continue with our work and compete again later this year.

We are super thankful to Walt Disney Company Australia who provided us with a grant to enter this competition and a new SPIKE PRIME robot; Monash University Robogals Volunteers, Kiengseng and Nak, who have been helping us along the way; Mr Verimieff and Miss Leong for helping us out weekly and Mr Williams who drove us safely to the venue and back!

Students who would like to join us in exploring and building LEGO robots and learning how to code, we meet every Friday at lunchtimes in the STEAM centre. You can also contact Ms Leong (09931826@mgsc.vic.edu.au) for more information.

We would like to apply for grants so we can add resources and equipment to our STEAM Connect Centre. Please contact the College if you know of possisble funding opportunities. 

Ms Elizabeth Leong and the Robosapiens team