FIRST LEGO League Central European Semi-final

This year, the 9th international FIRST LEGO League competition in Slovakia will be held. This is an international robotics competition that originated in the United States in 1998 in cooperation with the LEGO Group and the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) association and which has since spread around the world.

Each team is comprised of 3 to 10 students from 9 to 16 years of age.  Each year, a new theme and mission is announced and the teams build and program robots from LEGO blocks and develop research projects which they present in the regional rounds.  

The competition has 4 equally weighted and rated parts: · Robot Design  · Robot Game · Presentation of the Research Project · Teamwork. 

The competition was held for the first time in Slovakia in 2008 and featured the participation of 10 teams.  This year, students from 86 teams will meet at 7 regional tournaments, with the 10 best teams advancing to the semi-finals which will take place on February 4 and 5, 2017 in Debrecen, Hungary.  There they will be competing with teams from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland.   

Naturally, the competition is about robotics, but significant emphasis is also placed on teamwork, analytical thinking, the ability to present your ideas and creativity.  It combines science and technology and fun.  

 “At Anasoft we realize that if we want to foster innovative young people we need to support education, and this is best achieved through experience and in the form of games.  In addition, FLL gives successful teams the opportunity to travel to the next round and compare themselves with the best from around the world, which is a great motivation.” Michal Hrabovec, President of ANASOFT, one of the main partners of FLL. 

 “The growth of technology and artificial intelligence creates more sophisticated jobs which are closely connected with technological advances, robotization and nanotechnology.  This is one of the reasons that inspired Profesia to support FLL, which encourages young people not only in terms of teamwork, but also in creativity and fantasy while developing critical thinking.  We see huge potential in the fact that every participant has a real opportunity to see what it’s like to be an inventor and a member of a project team.  There’s a little kid in all of us.  That’s why developing creativity, playfulness and logical thinking is an effective path to new possibilities and skills these young people will benefit from when they enter the job market.” Dalibor Jakuš, founder of Profesia, the largest employment portal, and the second main FLL partner

For more information, go to www.firstlegoleague.org.