Growing interest in robotics among Illawarra children brought a serious showdown of the Lego variety to the region's doorstep at the weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On Saturday Unanderra hosted a regional tournament by the international not-for-profit group FIRST Lego League (FLL), which aims to show young people the fun side of science and robotics.
The contest gives teams of children 12 weeks to build an autonomous robot, then 2.5 minutes to showcase its capabilities on tournament day.
The children, aged 9-16, were also required to show their skills in original research and their understanding of core values, said Andrew Clark, coach of Illawarra team Project Bucephalus.
"[The tournament] takes good sportsmanship up a level because it says you actively help the other teams and celebrate their success as well as your own," Mr Clark said.
Fifteen teams from the Illawarra and South Coast competed in Saturday's tournament, at Cedars Christian College.
Sarah Heimlich, of FIRST Australia, said competing teams came from area churches, schools, community groups, Scouts and home-schooled students.
"When we started seven years ago we had
... about 25 [Australian] teams. This year we have about 400 teams. We've seen great expansion in Wollongong," Ms Heimlich said.
FLL's activities are aimed at correcting skills shortages in science and engineering.
"This is a massive area where we don't have enough people," Ms Heimlich said.
