Local Lego team competes

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AUTO-MEDICS — From left, Cecelia Dieterich, Colby Ventresca, Andrew Binette, Will Dieterich, Owen Orlando and Sully Poland. The team has been sponsored by Hot Colors and Taylor Brook Animal Hospital.

AREA — First Lego League (FLL) is a robotics program for nine to 14 year olds that is designed to get children excited about science and technology. Every September, FLL releases a Challenge, which is based on a real-world scientific topic.

Each Challenge has two parts: the Robot Game and the Project. Teams of up to 10 children, with one adult coach, participate in the Challenge by programming a robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game) and developing a solution to a problem they have identified (Project).

Teams may then choose to attend an official tournament, one of which was held December 8 in Augusta.

This year's theme is Senior Solutions. In the 2012 Senior Solutions Challenge, over 200,000 kids from over 60 countries will explore the topic of aging and how it may affect a person’s ability to maintain his or her lifestyle.

In the Senior Solutions Challenge, teams will build, test and program a robot using Lego® Mindstorms® NXT to solve a set of Senior Solutions missions on an obstacle course as well as research, develop and share their innovative solution to a seniors problem.

The Auto-Medics is a second-year team that competed in Augusta in the state competition. The team is comprised of six fifth and sixth graders: Andrew Binette, Cecelia Dieterich, Will Dieterich, Owen Orlando, Sully Poland and Colby Ventresca, who all attend Paris Elementary School. The team is coached by Celia Dieterich and Mike Binette.

The team has been meeting since September and has visited the Veteran’s Home and met with other seniors in the community to discuss issues people face as they age. The team chose to design an automated pill dispenser to help reduce patient non-compliance with home medication.