Building robots and other high-tech devices may seem like the domain of scientists and engineers.
But a group of students from Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School will demonstrate their innovative spirit this weekend at a robotics tournament in Philadelphia, and are seeking the community’s help in getting a patent for a device that aims to improve food safety.
Robo Scholars, a team of eight students in grades five through seven, received the first-place Robot Performance Award and the second place Champion’s Award out of 23 teams competing in the qualifying tournament of the First Lego League Challenge, held Dec. 10 in Pottstown.
The competition was divided into two parts: project presentation and robot design.
For the presentation portion, the students invented a device called “Frozonizer” that is used in a refrigerator to eliminate bacteria from fruits and vegetables using ozone technology. For the robot design competition, the students designed a robot using Lego parts. The resulting robot had to be able to perform a number of tasks.
The First Lego League Challenge is an international competition in which more than 200,000 students in 55 countries are taking part. Today, the team is taking its project to the Philadelphia Championship at the University of Pennsylvania, where 48 teams will compete to advance to the World Festival. That will be held April 14 in St. Louis.
This is the first year for the Robo Scholars team, said Palvan Amanov, an information technology specialist at Young Scholars and the team’s adviser. It’s the only Centre County team competing in the First Lego League Challenge.
The theme of this year’s project presentation part of the competition is food contamination, Amanov said.
The Robo Scholars team decided to tackle the problem of fruit and vegetable contamination, he said, after learning that 25 million people in the U.S. get sick each year from contaminated produce, and 1,300 die. Bacterial contamination is most often caused by plants being treated with dirty water and unfiltered manure, Amanov said.
“We found out that ozone gas is pretty effective to eliminate that specific bacteria,” he said.
The students, who received guidance from experts at Penn State and State College Area High School, went to a microbiology lab at Penn State, where they tested their device on tomatoes contaminated with E. coli. After 20 minutes, Amanov said, 86 percent of the bacteria had disappeared.
Robo Scholars has applied for a patent for “Frozonizer” and is working with a couple of interested companies, Amanov said.
However, the process could be expedited by winning the Global Innovation Award, a separate competition that First Lego League is offering. The 10 teams that win the most online votes for their projects will advance to the semifinals, and the winning team will have a chance to get its invention patented and work with product development and marketing experts to transform its invention into a product.
To vote for “Frozonizer,” visit fllinnovationaward.firstlegoleague.org/frozonizer. Individuals can vote once a day until March 1.
On April 9, the Robo Scholars team members will go to Washington, D.C., where they will meet with U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, RHoward Township. The students also wrote a letter to first lady Michelle Obama, Amanov said, with the ambitious goal of being able to present their invention to the president.
Stephanie Koons writes this weekly column featuring news from the Centre Region. Contact her at 235- 3927 or skoons@centredaily.com.
