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Health & Fitness

Look out world, here we come.....

Crissman's Crazy Pizza People ready for international robotics tournament

Practice, practice, practice…

That’s what Michigan’s Grand Champion Lego Robotics team, ‘The Crazy Pizza People,’ are doing to hone their presentation skills and program their robot through its paces in preparation for the First Lego League (FLL) World Festival Tournament in St. Louis next month.

Team members are Crissman Elementary students Carter O’Donnell, Austin Motloch, Corey Reynolds, Katie Roy, Cheyenne Smith and Nicholas Tobin and Malow Junior High students Giovanni Pansera and Alex Roy. They are coached by parents Amy and Pascal Roy.

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The students had brainstormed together through two previous competition years before capturing the top prize at the state tournament.

They won by posting the highest overall score in all categories:

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  • Project research, solution and team presentation
  • Teamwork and gracious professionalism
  • Building an autonomous robot demonstrating mechanical design, programming, strategy and performance skills

The victory earned them the right to represent Michigan at the 2013 World Tournament, joining the best 100 teams from across the globe.
More than 200,000 young thinkers in 55 nations began the FLL competition last fall. This year’s theme, ‘Senior Solutions,’ challenged students to identify problems faced by older citizens and devise ways to help them live independently.

As mentioned, the teams were charged with building a robot to exact specifications using a Lego NXT kit and programming it to perform several tasks a senior citizen might require.

The Crissman/Malow robot, fondly dubbed ‘Granny’ by the students, has a unique feature – a retractable arm that can double in length – handy for reaching items on a top shelf or lifting something off the floor.

FLL teams also completed and presented an extensive research project tied to the Senior Solutions theme. The Crissman/Malow students chose to explore retirement preparation and savings for their project.

In gathering information, they discovered some startling facts. For example, today’s workers should anticipate needing about 20 times their annual income to live their retirement years in comfort. As a result, these fourth through seventh graders offer this sound advice: “Start saving as early as you can.” 

While The Crazy Pizza People seem to have overcome every obstacle in their quest for St Louis, they face one more hurdle – paying their way to the World Tournament.

If you are interested in helping support the team or in learning more about the FIRST Robotics program and the real-world skills students gain, please visit the Crissman PTA Web site www.crissmanpta.org or the team’s site www.crissmanlegoleague.org

Community members can also help just by checking out the project information section on the team’s site. By sharing what they have learned with community, every visit logged counts toward the Pizza Peoples’ World Tournament score. 

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