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LEGO robots battle, block to block

In a stiff competition akin to a championship sporting event, youngsters from across the region Saturday challenged their minds to create the best robot and build a better world.

Connor Williamson, 10, looks up at the big screen as he and his partner Mary Eisenhard make minor adjustments to their robot during the Robot Performance competition at the Penn FIRST LEGO League championship at the University of Pennsylvania  in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016.
Connor Williamson, 10, looks up at the big screen as he and his partner Mary Eisenhard make minor adjustments to their robot during the Robot Performance competition at the Penn FIRST LEGO League championship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016.Read moreJennifer Kerrigan /Staff Photographer

In a stiff competition akin to a championship sporting event, youngsters from across the region Saturday challenged their minds to create the best robot and build a better world.

After months of work and fine-tuning final projects, it was game day for 48 teams that competed in the annual Lego League regional championship at the University of Pennsylvania.

The students, all middle schoolers, used software and technology to build and program a Lego robot. The teams earned points based on how well their robot manipulated a tabletop obstacle course and completed missions or tasks.

"I absolutely love it," said Nico Marosek, 12, a sixth grader at Holy Cross Regional School in Collegeville. "It's a lot of fun. Even if we lose, we will laugh about it and try to do better the next time."

Known as the FIRST LEGO League, the program seeks to expose youngsters to math and science at an early age and encourage them to consider careers such as engineering.

The STEM - science, technology, engineering, and math - program began in the Philadelphia School District in 2007. The university's engineering and applied science program took it over several years ago.

"The intent is to increase diversity in engineering," said Dan Ueda, the event manager. He called the tournament "a sport of the mind."

About 18,000 teams in the United States and Canada are expected to participate in the tournament this year, said Kathy Morgan, of FIRST LEGO League in Manchester, N.H.

"They get excited when they see the Legos," Morgan said. "They really get into it."

The theme for this year's competition was "Trash Trek." Each team had to develop a solution to a big problem: trash.

"We need to save our Earth," said Keaton Rush, 11, of Collegeville, a member of Team Tobor (robot spelled backward). "People don't respect the Earth."

His team was coached by Brian Teles, a civil engineer, whose daughter, Kathryn, is a team member. "They're having a blast."

The teams designed robots - about a foot high - that could do tasks such as collect and sort trash, eject compost from a compactor, demolish a building, or pick up a trash bag replica. The team also had to conduct research and present their project to a panel of judges.

They were judged on their robot's performance; the research project; and "core values," such as teamwork and sportsmanship.

After hours of practice rounds and preliminary judging since September, the teams hurried into the Irvine Auditorium for the main event. In an atmosphere resembling a sporting event, family members cheered and waved signs, a DJ loudly pumped music, and teams broke out in chants.

"We're used to playing soccer and basketball," said parent Brian Brosious, of Bloomsburg, Pa., who came to support his daughter, Amanda, whose team from Central Columbia Middle School participated in the competition for the first time. "This is something different. They use their minds a lot."

The teams took to the stage to compete in three rounds, lasting 21/2 minutes each. In between rounds, they could tweak their robots to correct any glitches.

When members of the Freire Charter School team in Center City walked away dejected after their robot completed only one task in the first round, coach Paul Holt offered encouragement.

"Keep it positive," Holt, a freshman physical science teacher, told them as they left the stage. "It worked five times in a row."

About 200 teams from the region competed in qualifying rounds. The top 48 advanced to Saturday's event.

Two winning teams, "Those Blue Girls" from Chester Springs and "Penn Alexander LEGO Robotics" from Philadelphia, will move on to the final round in April in St. Louis for the World Festival, which draws teams from around the world.

mburney@phillynews.com

856-779-3814@mlburney