End-Tech, the team from Endon High School in Staffordshire, came first in their regional heat of the annual competition, built around Lego robotics. Now, they’re circling that national tournament on their calendar this year! Malachi, James, Owen and Ethan Saunders made up the five-member team, which dominated the competition and rivals with superb skill and teamwork. With that victory they punched their ticket to their second straight major league final four!
Teams traveled from near and far, including one team from Bradford, England, but the competition was much closer this year. Even Malachi admitted to the elevated level of competition, saying, “Teams are just more better this year. Even with the challenges, End-Tech’s incredible preparedness allowed them to emerge victorious. The team dedicated time both during and after school to code and construct their robot, incorporating improvements along the way.
The competition challenged each team to a series of rigorous challenges crafted by the known experts, affectionately called the Judges. Teams earned points for competing effectively in these challenges, one of which involved presenting information about their robot to judges. The team used a new coding software based off of Python which made the robot run more smoothly and accurately. Malachi remarked on this transition, saying, “We’ve swapped to a new coding software that uses Python so it’s much more accurate than it used to be.”
Owen shone a light on an equally important improvement to their design. “We’ve got a whole different robot with colour sensors this time, that makes it a bit easier to use,” he explained. This unique feature was instrumental in helping the robot exit tasks with greater efficiency and was a big part of the team’s success overall.
And the winner of the regional competition was End-Tech! They’ll be proudly representing Staffordshire at the first ever UK National Final of the first Lego League, taking place in Harrogate later this year. The anticipation is high as the team prepares for this prestigious event, aiming to showcase their skills on a national stage.