Student LEGO Robots to Compete at South Dakota Mines

November 14, 2023
Student LEGO Robots to Compete at South Dakota Mines
FIRST LEGO League is an educational extracurricular activity for youth ages 9-14. This event focuses on teamwork, societal challenges, and STEM. Photo courtesy of FIRST LEGO League.

South Dakota Mines is coordinating with the FIRST Lego League state partner organization, Empowering You to Be (EmBe), to host the 2023 FIRST LEGO League Rapid City Qualifier from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 18, in the Classroom Building at South Dakota Mines. The event is free and open to the public.

FIRST LEGO League is an educational extracurricular activity for youth ages 9-14. This event focuses on teamwork, societal challenges, and STEM. Teams have been working together since August, learning to build and program competitive autonomous robots, which must complete various tasks within a given time to earn points.

This year's event includes 6 registered teams with over 30 youth participants. The theme is MASTERPIECE which challenges students to design and build robots that can showcase how STEM is involved in the Arts (STEAM). Teams develop a project idea solution within that topic. The competition is divided into robot games with judging in core values, project presentation, and robot design.

Caterpillar is a sponsor of many of the teams at the Rapid City Qualifier.