Journey of high school Lego Robotics teams from rural south India enter their first First Lego League competition in Bangalore.

1. THE STORY OF CR’S FIRST LEGO ROBOTICS TEAMS
THE ROAD TO BANGALORE

2. IT ALL STARTED
WITH A FEW LEGO
BRICKS

3. AND THEN- A SUMMER CAMP LEGO WE DO
PROGRAM

4. FOLLOWED BY THE KIT OF EVERY LEGO ROBOT BUILDER’S DREAMS-THE
EV3!

5. When the India Stem Foundation agreed to sponsor not
just one, but two CR teams, we were off and running.

6. PICKED 2 TEAMS

7. STARTED BUILDING

8. BUILT A PLAYING FIELD

9. AND LEARNED TO PROGRAM

10. NATURE’S FURY
• Each year, the First Lego
League competition has a
theme
• This year’s theme was Nature’s
Fury
• Each team selected a natural
disaster to research
• Our teams chose cyclones and
floods-natural disasters
common in our area

11. TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES
• Build and program a robot
that could complete 20
challenges related to
natural disasters-usually
pushing, pulling and
picking up and moving
something

12. • Research chosen natural
disaster
• Recommend solution to
common problem related to
that disaster
• Our teams presented their
solutions through a play and a
newscast

13. • One team
recommended life
jacket distribution
to flood prone
villages

14. ANOTHER TEAM
RECOMMENDED
FORMING A YOUTH
ACTION COMMITTEE
THAT WOULD BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR
CERTAIN LIFE SAVING
MEASURES IN TIME
OF DISASTER.

15. Practice, practice and more practice.

16. FLEXIBILITY IS KEY
• At the last minute, the
location of the competition
changed from Chennai to
Bangalore-OMG!
• Travel time increased from
2 to 8 hours-school buses
are much slower than cars.
• We needed a place to stay
overnight-a Bangalore
shrine gave us a place to
sleep and a great dinner.

17. Breakfast
Breakfast
The Bus Ride
Coach Arun

18. PRE-COMPETITION
FUN
• FOR MOST OF THE
TEAM, THIS WAS
THEIR FIRST TIME IN
BANGALORE, FIRST
TIME AWAY FROM
HOME, FIRST TRIP
TO A MALL!
• WE TOOK
ADVANTAGE OF OUR
FEW HOURS OF FREE
TIME BY SEEING A 7D
MOVIE, VISITING A
HAUNTED HOUSE,
AND EXPERIENCING
AN ARCADE.

19. The Mall

20. COMPETITION DAY
THE INDUS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

21. IN THE
BEGINNING
ONE LOOK AT THE INDUS
SCHOOL CAMPUS AND
OUR KIDS’ KNEW THEY
WEREN’T IN ANILADY
ANYMORE

22. AS THEY SETTLED IN
• Their confidence
continued to
grow
• Their
presentations
went well
• Each robot run
was better than
the last time out

25. Here are the some of the selfless people
who make CR a quality organization and
who made participation in this
competition possible:
SURESH-engineering student,film
maker, long-time CR intern, research and
presentation coach.
-engineering student,film maker, long-
time CR intern, research and presentation
coach.
KEY PLAYERS

26. Arun-Loyola college student, long-time
CR intern,karate master, presentation
coach.

27. Agni Bharathi-long time CR intern,
B.Ed student, CR Director of
special projects, Team coordinator.

28. Without the ongoing
encouragement and
support and Fr. Felix,
Founding Director of CR
India and Fr. Anand,
Headmaster of Sacred
Heart Higher secondary
school-there would have
been no lego teams and we
never would have made it
to Bangalore.
Thank you for always being
there when everyone
needed you.
Thank you for always being
there when everyone
needed you.
FR. FELIX AND FR. ANAND

29. Siva has been CR’s head computer
teacher since we opened our doors 5
years ago. He is an outstanding teacher
who loves both his subject and his
students.
Despite the fact that this was his first
venture into Lego robotics, we had no
doubt that he was the right person for
the job. With Siva’s encouragement and
guidance, kids who had never seen a
Lego brick before, learned to build and
program robots in record time.
Thank you Siva-we couldn’t have made
it without you!
Thank you Siva-we couldn’t have made
it without you!
Thank you Siva-we couldn’t have made
it without you!
ROBOTICS COACH: SIVA
KUMAR

30. 2013-14 COMMUNITIES RISING FLL LEGO ROBOTICS TEAMS

31. AFTERWORD
After we returned home from Bangalore, we all met to reflect on the experience.
The students unanimously agreed that we should compete again next year.
However, they had several suggested changes:
•Presentations should be in English-they thought they were at a disadvantage
because they needed a translator. They actually requested spoken English classes;
•They would like team uniforms-they felt out of place wearing school uniforms when
everyone else had competition outfits;
•They would start practicing now so they could learn more about programming and
develop new robot designs-and they have actually been practicing every day since
they returned.
But the most important takeaway, was expressed by one of the robot controllers
who said, ”The most important thing I learned in Bangalore, was that we can
compete with anyone. It doesn’t matter how rich they are or how big their robots
are, we are just as good as they are.”
And that made it all worthwhile.

32. ADDITIONAL THANKS
• To the India Stem Foundation, for your generous support of our teams. Without your sponsorships
and equipment donations, we could not have participated in this year’s competition.
• To the James Robinson family and Jacob Wenger, for your generous and timely contributions that
gave us the financial support we needed to get started this year.
• To Joseph Aruldass, for your help on the American side of the pond.
• To Fr. Francis and Christopher, for traveling to Bangalore to support our teams. Every team needs
cheerleaders.
• To the pastor and staff of the Infant Jesus Shrine in Bangalore, thank you for feeding and housing 25
people on short notice. Without your hospitality, we might have been forced to cancel the trip.
• To everyone who provided moral support and wished us well-many thanks.
See you all next year!