The GarsControl Senior and GarsControl Junior teams from Gars am Inn have qualified for the next round of the First Lego League. The youngsters came out on top among 15 teams from Upper and Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate at the regional competition organised by OTH Regensburg. This time, the motto of the tasks to be mastered was ‘Submerged’. The participants use creative thinking to explore the depths of the ocean and bring their findings and ideas for the future to the surface.,
Jury assesses research assignment, design and teamwork
‘The young engineers not only have to prove their technical knowledge when realising the tasks, teamwork, creativity and cohesion are also important. The First Lego League encourages the participants in a variety of ways,’ says Armin Gardeia, organiser of the Young University competition. OTH Regensburg has been organising the regional First Lego League competitions for 14 years, with 22 teams taking part this year. Seven of them took part in the First Lego League Explore, 15 in the Challenge. Explore is aimed at children aged six to ten. The pupils playfully discover the world of programming with the help of a Lego Education robotics set and develop a motorised Lego model.
In the Challenge category, pupils aged between nine and 16 spend a good six months preparing for the competition. They work in teams like real engineers on a joint project. They plan, construct and programme an autonomous Lego Education robot, research a topic of their choice and create a presentation of their results.
On Saturday, they faced a jury and judges in the categories of research, robot design and basic values/teamwork and robot game.
The winners from Gars am Inn will compete in the qualifying competition (semi-final of Germany, Austria and Switzerland) on 1 March 2025, also at OTH Regensburg, with 19 other teams from southern Germany, before possibly moving on to the European final. The European final will take place from 28 to 30 March in Siegen.
Prof Dr Christoph Skornia, Vice President of OTH Regensburg, is convinced: ‘The energy and enthusiasm at the First Lego League is unique. We are proud to welcome so many creative and clever young people to our university every year. The joy of technology and innovation is one of the foundations for the future of our society, and this also applies to sustainability, which we want to focus on even more in the future.’
Competition promotes young talent
Infineon and Continental, the sponsors of the competition, were equally delighted with the commitment of the young talents. ‘We at Infineon are delighted that the robotics competition at OTH Regensburg is introducing young people to science and technology at an early age. Pupils from our partner school Goethe-Gymnasium are right in the middle of it all. What more could you want?’ enthuses Erika Bauer, member of the Infineon Regensburg management team.
Alexandra Bornemann, Site and Plant Manager of Continental Regensburg, explains: ‘We are proud to have been supporting the First Lego League for many years as a sponsor, but also with our own team “ContiMinds”. The event promotes the STEM skills of the young participants in a fun and sustainable way. In my view, this is exactly the right approach, because we see great potential for the future in the fields of IT and robotics.’
Professors and staff from the university and sponsors Continental and Infineon supported the competition, along with eight referees, twelve jury members and many volunteers.
You can find the results of the competition here.
More information about the First Lego League can be found here.
