Gummies, cookies, hawks, and dozens of robots descended on Lincoln for the annual Nebraska First Lego League Robotics State Championship Tournament on March 21-22.
“The Nebraska Panhandle showed up with our teams to compete at the Nebraska First Lego League Robotics State Championship Tournament that had 89 teams from across the state,” said Nathan Rice, Nebraska Extension 4-H Youth Development and coach for the Lord of the Gummies team. “Our teams demonstrated what they learned this year through countless hours of problem-solving, building, and coding.”
The competing teams had between 2 and 10 members, aged 9 to 14 years. The teams work together to design, build, and program a robot. The robots must accomplish as many missions as possible in two minutes and 30 seconds. Along with building and coding the robots, the teams design and present an innovation project that positively impacts their local community.
“We (Scotts Bluff County 4-H) had two teams finish in the top three, with the Lord of the Gummies receiving the 1st place Championship Trophy and the Panhandle Cookie Bytes receiving the 3rd Place Champions Trophy,” Rice said. Both Teams are qualified to move on to world tournaments. The Lord of the Gummies will compete in April at the FIRST World Championships in Houston, Texas, where 67 countries from around the world will be represented at the tournament. The Panhandle Cookie Bytes will compete in June at the WPI Annual First Lego League Event in Worchester, Mass.
For the third consecutive year, the Scotts Bluff County 4-H Robotics program has secured two of the top three spots in the state. This has led to a jump in interest and growth of robotics education in the local community.
First Lego League is a worldwide youth program that partners with LEGO each year to release a challenge board and theme for the year’s competition. The 2024-25 theme was “Submerged,” and students were invited to address challenges related to the oceans.
The Lego League season begins in August and runs through March. Anyone interested in learning more about the program or supporting the teams on their trip to Worlds is asked to contact the Scotts Bluff County Extension Office at 308-632-1480.
Awards from teams across the Panhandle:
- Scottsbluff - Lord of the Gummies: 1st Place Champions Trophy & Nebraska Innovation Award Nominee
- Scottsbluff - Panhandle Cookie Bytes: 3rd Place Champions Trophy, 1st Place Robot Performance Award, and Nebraska Innovation Award Nominee
- Alliance - Sting Ray: 1st Place Core Values
- Hay Springs - Pixilated Hawks: Nebraska Innovation Award Nominee
- Kimball - Kimbots: 2nd Place Robot Design
- Rushville - Tiny But Smart: 3rd Place Robot Design
- Scottsbluff - CCS Robotics 2: 4th Place Core Values
