273 students take part in Lego tournament

A total of 273 students aged from 6 to 16 have put their thinking caps on and tested their ingenuity in the territorial leg of the annual First Lego League in Lleida.

The annual competition, run by the Danish based company, sets challenges every year for elementary and middle school students to show the world how innovation knows no age. This year the theme was the human cycle of water and management problems of this vital natural resource.

Using Lego technology, the students had to build and program an autonomous robot using Lego technology in order to complete ‘Robot Game’ missions. They have three rounds lasting two and a half minutes to do so. 

The mayor of Lleida, Àngel Ros, inaugurated the competitions of the territorial phase, alongside the director of the Polytechnic College of the University of Lleida, Francesc Giné. The robotics competition has two aspects, remarked Giné. It shows how learning science can be fun, while fostering interest in scientific and technological vocations among students, Giné said.

The students taking part came from 31 different schools and colleges throughout Catalonia, and also Castellón, Zaragoza, and Andorra. The next leg will be held in Logroño, Spain.

Lego has come a long way since its creation way back in 1932 in Demark. From its humble beginnings as those colourful little building blocks, these days even robotics are incorporated, with the little bricks being put ot task in challenges related to global issues.