August 14, 2006 Source: :
http://www.acadiau.ca/whatsnew/newsrelease/2006/LEGO_14aug.html Acadia to Host FIRST LEGO League and High School Robot Competitions Young robot builders will have the chance to test their skills at two competitions being held at Acadia University on November 25. The site will be Acadia’s War Memorial Gymnasium and the competitions will run from 1 until 8 p.m. These competitions feature affordable, easy to build and fun to program LEGO MINDSTORMS™ robots. No prior knowledge of robots or computer programming is necessary. The 1st Annual Acadia FIRST LEGO League tournament is an international program for young people aged 9-14 that combines hands-on robotics with a sports competition atmosphere. FIRST International defines the competition which last year was played in 31 countries by 7,400 teams. The theme for this year’s competition is NanoQuest and teams of 4-10 players must search the web, visit libraries and complete research assignments in addition to building their robots. Teams must first register through FIRST at its website http://register4fll.com and pay the $180 registration fee. NXT robot kits and Field Setup kits can then be ordered for delivery in early September. Acadia’s Jodrey School of Computer Science has funds available to help teams defray their costs and grant applications are available on the competition website http://iitrl.acadiau.ca/rpc/. Acadia’s 2nd Annual Robot Programming competition is open to four-person high school teams ranging in age from 14-18. This event builds on the success of last year’s competition won by a team from Avon View High School in Windsor, NS. Teams are asked to build robots from either the LEGO RCX or NXT robot kits and the challenge is to program them to autonomously perform various tasks within a specific time period. Teams are asked to explain their robot and then prove its credentials in a specially designed arena. "Youth robotics is turning children in Canada onto computer science, engineering and mathematics while exposing them to team work and creative problem solving," says Dr. Danny Silver, Jodrey School of Computer Science professor and organizer of the competitions. "There is so much more to computer science than just learning how to write programs. This type of event is a great way for young people to learn about these other aspects and to discover their abilities to design, construct and use information technology. I know the students who attended last year’s event had a great time and many will be returning to Acadia’s campus this year." More information about both competitions is available by following the links on Acadia’s homepage www.acadiau.ca as well as the competition site http://iitrl.acadiau.ca/rpc/. Acadia University, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has long been recognized as one of Canada’s premier undergraduate institutions. With its nationally and internationally recognized research initiatives, small class sizes and technology-rich teaching and learning environment, Acadia offers students an experience that includes academic achievement combined with personal growth and development. For more information about Acadia, visit our website at http://www.acadiau.ca. -30- For more information contact:
Scott Roberts
Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs
Acadia University
P: 902.585.1705
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