Robotics Teams to Seek Solutions for Seniors at Dec. 8 Tournament

Challenged to seek solutions to problems facing senior citizens, children ages 9 to 14 will gather at the Brandon campus of Hillsborough Community College Saturday, Dec. 8 for the Suncoast FIRST LEGO League Tournament.

The tournament will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the conference center at HCC, 10414 Columbus Dr., Tampa.

The theme of this year's tournament is "Senior Solutions." The competition requires teams to partner with a senior citizen over the age of 60 and research innovative solutions to obstacles that keep seniors from having quality and engaging lifestyles in their communities.

Sixteen teams from throughout Tampa Bay also will compete in a 2 ½-minute robot challenge, seeking to earn as many points as possible. Team robots are pre-programmed to accomplish predefined tasks. Teams design, build and program LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots to earn points during the three-round robotic games.

The teams will be judged on their research presentation, technical interview, core values team-building exercises and the robot challenge.

HCC, TechPlayzone in Riverview, Jet’s Pizza and the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence (FLATE) have sponsored the qualifying tournament in the Tampa Bay area for the past four years.

TechPlayzone hosts two FLL robotic teams that meet during the week and on weekends for practice. The team members and families volunteer at the tournament as a team fundraiser. The Techno Whizards are a veteran champion team. The Programming Thunderbots are a rookie award-winning team.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the FIRST LEGO League or the Suncoast FLL Robotics tournament, call tournament director and TechPlayzone owner Desh Bagley at 813-684-7329 or email techplayzone@gmail.com.