RSD Robotics Team Ranks Top 5 in the World at FIRST LEGO League Global Competition

The Intelligent Mavericks, a robotics team made up of 5th through 8th graders from Lewis and Clark Elementary, Libby Middle School, and Enterprise Middle School, recently returned from the FIRST LEGO League World Festival in Houston, Texas, with some major achievements.

Out of more than 60,000 teams worldwide, the Intelligent Mavericks finished in the top five and earned the Champion’s Finalist Award! They were the only team from the United States to receive this recognition, marking the first time a team from Washington State has reached this level in the competition.

The team, which includes Lucy Cramer, Aditri Prasad, and Samviti Prasad (all 8th graders from Enterprise Middle School); Carter House (8th grade) and Bianca Zink (7th grade) from Libby Middle School; Scott Kreutz (8th grade) from Three Rivers HomeLink; and Isaac Cramer (5th grade) from Lewis & Clark Elementary, spent a challenging and fun-filled week at the World Festival.

In their first robot match, a motor failed and caused their robot to spin in circles, scoring just 100 points. But the team didn’t give up. They borrowed a motor from a generous team from Spain, reprogrammed their robot, and bounced back with 535 points in their final match, only 10 points short of a perfect score.

For their innovation project, the team addressed the issue of biofouling on underwater sensors, which can interfere with the accuracy of ocean data collection. They worked closely with scientists and engineers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), tested their ideas in real saltwater conditions, and presented their findings to the judges.

This team of students shows what young minds can accomplish when they bring curiosity, collaboration, and strong community support together.