Elementary students take on their own robotic competition

DULUTH, MN. -- DULUTH, MN. - For local nine-year-old Brent Jensen, it was an opportunity of a lifetime.

“It’s really exciting,” said Jensen. “I have been looking forward to this for a long time.”

Jensen and his team were hard at work the last few months, preparing for the Elementary Robotics Festival at the DECC, which coincided with the Northern Lights and Lake Superior regional high school FIRST Robotics Competitions.

“My team’s name is called the Magnificent Moose,” said Jensen.

Jensen and his team showed their robotic-powered creation made of Legos.

Making sure to highlight just how it works.

“The windmill turns, and then once the battery is on, the marble goes around here, and then it’s going to empty into a unit that turns it into reusable energy,” Jensen said while showing off his team’s latest project.

For the Magnificent Moose, and the five other competing teams, this competition is a brand-new experience.

“Either all these teams have to go down to the cities and compete or they do it online, and that’s no fun,” said Patrick Mulcahy, the Board President of the 3D Robotics Duluth. “That’s why we wanted to keep it up here in Duluth.”

With the elementary competition in Duluth for the first-times, organizers said it’s an opportunity for kids to not only practice bringing their own robotic creations in front of judges, but explore a wide variety of other technologies.

“The activity room has our FTC robots, and some demo bots they can actually drive, and then there’s the FLL challenge which is the next step for them if they want to move on as 4th graders,” Mulcahy said.

Using this event to educate and encourage the young minds of Duluth.

“You kind of get interaction with the computer and Legos,” said Jensen. “I really like building Legos and all that stuff, it’s just really fun.”

All while investing into their futures.

“I think I will want to do stuff with robots when I get older,” Jensen said.

Each team and its participants were given medals, and creative awards, at the end of the competition.

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