Mineola, NY - February 4, 2019 - The Floydbots, William Floyd Elementary School’s Robotics team, won the “Project Presentation Award” at the SBPLI FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Qualifier held last weekend at Mineola High School. The Project Presentation Award is given to the team that most effectively communicates an identified problem and proposed solution. In just three years of existence, the Floydbots have won a major award each year – two Project Presentation Awards and a Champions Award. They have also qualified advanced to the finals on two separate occasions.
The Floydbots presented their robot design, core values and project to the judges and were graded on a rubric. They also competed in the Robot game with their FIRST Lego League Robot that they designed and coded using an EV3 battery and Lego Mindstorms coding software. They have been preparing for this competition since the summer, meeting four hours each week since August.
This year’s theme was “Into Orbit,” and each team was tasked with identifying a physical or social problem faced by humans during a long-duration space expedition. The Floydbots identified the problem of tasting and smelling due to the lack of gravity causing clogged sinuses in astronauts. To solve this problem, the Floydbots created an innovative solution – a “scratch-and-sniff” sticker to enhance the senses.
Congratulations to the Floydbots on another fine performance! Team members include Max Heitman, Jasmine Setelius, Ben Zozzaro, Kiera Hodgson, Muhammad Saad, Matias Acosta Diaz, Ryleigh Furnari, Hannah Schultzer, Sofia Peren and Samantha Toledo; and their coaches Ms. Alba Salazar (teacher) and parents Jennifer Heitman and Joel Heitman.
About FIRST Lego League
Children are immersed in real world science and technology challenges. Teams design their own solution to a current scientific question or problem and build autonomous Lego robots that perform a series of missions. Through their participation, children develop valuable life skills and discover exciting career possibilities while learning that they can make a positive contribution to society.