The Techie Po-Tater Bots have returned home from West Virginia after placing eighth in the Mountain State First Lego League Invitational tournament.
The competition took place July 12 to 14.
“Sixty-two teams, 11 countries and doing so well there was so intriguing. We did it,” said team member Dashiell Cageorge.
The Calgary team is made up of six kids aged 10 and 11.
“Five out of six kids, this is the first year that they could actually even compete and be eligible for their age,” said coach Sheena Everton.
“We knew we were pretty young and up against some tough competition.”
The group is based in the southeast community of Auburn Bay and meet regularly.
The Techie Po-Tater Bots finished second in a league championship in Calgary, which qualified them for the U.S. tournament, where the focus was on 'space.'
“The missions were very difficult to do but once you put six brains together, it really became easy” said Cageorge.
Each team is tasked with building and programming their own robots.
“I love to program, that’s basically who I am” said team member Kaija Fortin.
Fortin added there can be hurdles when programming a robot.
“Basic commands like left and right (you) definitely (have to) watch for that, as that has definitely been one of our challenges, choosing right but putting left.”
The new season will start Aug. 1 and will focus on 'city planning and architecture.'
