São Paulo – Students from Rio de Janeiro school Colégio Liceu Franco-Brasileiro (pictured) finished second in the FIRST LEGO League contest in Lebanon. The robotics championship ran from June 14 to 16, comprising three events. Participating teams had to: program a robot built from Lego blocks to score points in a themed field game (The Robot Game); create a project based on this year’s theme – In Orbit – posing a problem and its solution; and work with its core values at all times.
Students were required to do work in design, engineering and the software programs for their robots, as well as the theme project. Rio’s FrancoDroid team created Cosmo Cup – Space Menstrual Cup, a healthy, sustainable way of dealing with women’s periods in space. “Joining this championship was an incomparable experience. It was so magical it will surely be stuck in our minds forever! We had the honor of representing Brazil. We also got a chance to discuss menstruation – which is taboo in so many countries – in Lebanon,” team member and school student Mariana Lopes (pictured) told ANBA via messaging.
She also discussed the importance of the cultural interchange experienced by the team while competing in an Arab country. “Since we were surrounded by different cultures, we also learned to respect others and to understand other cultures. This was priceless and very enriching,” said Mariana. Her teammates were Diogo Barreiros, Daniel Gudin, Gabriel Florêncio, Daniel Martins, Giulia Orlandi, Helena Marques and Ana Clara Teixeira.
Apart from the bigger competition, FIRST LEGO League gives awards to specific categories. FrancoDroid placed third in ‘The Robot Game.’ Team Galaxy Forces placed first in ‘Mechanical Design’ with their robot design. Hailing from Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, they created a project which concluded that astronauts lose muscle mass in space, and came up with an outfit made from theraband-type material – which is used in physical therapy.
And team Conectados out of Curitiba, Paraná, finished 3rd in ‘Mechanical Design.’ Its team members, from Escola Municipal Coronel Durival Britto e Silva, devised a themed project to address anxiety in space with lavender extract caps.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
