Stillwater Robotics notches win at state competition

A group of Columbus sixth graders has shown the rest of Montana what Stillwater County is made of by placing at the top of a state-wide robotics competition.
Seventy teams from across Montana took part in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) HYDRO DYNAMICS competition on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman last Saturday. The Stillwater Robotics team excelled, finishing in first place for programming and seventh overall in the robotics competition.
It was a full day of robotics work, with the students giving three different presentations in the morning. These presentations demonstrated the team’s competency in robotics through the development of a complex solution to a world problem, in addition to demonstrating teamwork.
This year’s topic was the human water cycle, and the challenge for students was “to improve the way people find, transport, use, or dispose of water,” according to the FLL challenge guide.
In the afternoon, Stillwater Robotics took part in the robotics competition. It consisted of team members building and programming a LEGO robot capable of performing various tasks within a two-minute time limit.
The six members of Stillwater Robotics worked hard to prepare for the competition, meeting after school three days each week for the last four months.

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE
FLL has more than 255,000 participants making up 32,000 teams in 88 countries across the world. With each team creating one robot, that means 32,000 robots were created for the HYDRO DYNAMICS competition this year.
FIRST means “For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology.” The organization’s mission, according to its website, “is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.”