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Once again, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Air Vehicles Directorate personnel came out to show their tremendous support for area FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) competitors.

At the FLL Ohio State championship, held February 14-15 at Wright State University's Ervin J. Nutter Center, an impressive number of Air Vehicles personnel turned out to participate, provide support, and cheer for their favorite teams.

Air Vehicles scientists Bryan Cannon, Bob Smith, and Bonnie Schwartz (l. to r., right side of photo) review the Firestorm team's table missions at the FIRST LEGO® League U.S. Open Championship. This team won the Martin Luther King Dream Award for diversity. All eight team members are from different area schools. (AFRL photo credit: David Schwartz) Air Vehicles scientists Bob Smith and Bryan Cannon (l. to r., right side of photo) discuss the table missions with the Redskin Robots team from Fort Loramie Elementary School. This team won the Team Spirit award at the FIRST LEGO® League U.S. Open Championship. (AFRL photo credit: David Schwartz)

FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization devoted to generating interest in science and technology among young people. Competitors between the ages of 9 and 14 participate in regional, state, and national tournaments, where they build robots using LEGO® components and complete a set of theme-driven challenges. Competitors are judged on their robotics as well as problem-solving and teamwork skills. Volunteers from the Air Vehicles Directorate have become a big part of the FIRST LEGO® League events, regularly participating in a variety of capacities, including judging, refereeing, and coaching.

This year, participants from the Air Vehicles Directorate included Amy Burns, Bryan Cannon, Skip Gridley, Matt Goettke, Steve Scherr, Bonnie Schwartz, Dave Schwartz, Bob Smith, Tom Dermis, and Rudy Johnson. In addition, Major Nidal Jodeh attended as a spectator, and children of RB employees competed in the event.

According the Wright Site Educational Outreach office, the people from Air Vehicles Directorate are some of the biggest supporters of the FLL events.

The theme of this year's FLL challenge was "Climate Connections." Competitors were asked to identify a climate-related problem within their community, gather information about the problem, and develop an innovative solution.

Additionally, the teams were asked to perform robot table missions that tied into the theme. These missions involved tasks such as constructing levees, elevating a house, burying carbon dioxide, turning off lights, and extracting an ice core sample, all using team-designed LEGO® robots. The teams scored points by completing each task successfully.

The event's overall champion team was the Incredibots of the Columbus area. Their victory earned them a spot at the World Festival in Atlanta on April 15-18. Several local teams earned a spot in the FLL U.S. Open Championship, also to be held at the Nutter Center, on May 7-9. This year marks the first time the U.S. Open has been held in the Dayton area. For this event, the best and brightest teams from all over the county will meet to put their skills to the test. According to Skip Gridley, Air Vehicles engineer and FLL judge advisor, the directorate's support for the FLL program has been overwhelming. "Every year it seems like more and more RB personnel get excited and get involved with FLL. The fact that so many world-class science and engineering role models spend their own time impacting the future of so many kids is amazing to me. It is an honor to work with them at their "real" jobs here in RB and in FIRST LEGO® League," Gridley said. For more information on the FLL U.S. Open and the Ohio FIRST LEGO® League program, visit http://edoutreach.wpafb.af.mil/ohfll.html.