For the first time since 2019, the ROSEN Group was once again able to host the international research and robotics competition, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge (FLL), on site at the Innovation Center in Lingen, Germany. A total of ten teams from educational institutions in the surrounding area took part. With the theme "SUPERPOWERED – The Energy of the Future," this year's competition was all about the energy transition.
"Finally, the event takes place in person on site again and allows us to experience this great competitive atmosphere up close. Especially during the Robot Games there is an exciting atmosphere and we can feel the ambition of the teams live. It is great to see how they are enthusiastic about scientific and technical topics such as robotics, artificial intelligence as well as programming and at the same time deal with current topics of society," says Patrik Rosen, representative of the owner family, on the occasion of the event day.
PAVING THE WAY TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE WITH "SUPERPOWERED" SOLUTIONS
During the several months of preparation, around 70 pupils constructed an autonomous LEGO® robot within their teams and worked on a research project related to the event's motto. In this context, they addressed the questions of how our energy is generated, stored, distributed and consumed, and whether there is enough energy available at all. Finally, it is not self-evident that energy is always and everywhere available. The focus was therefore on future energy generation and its consumption.
"We were especially delighted with this year's seasonal theme. It fits in perfectly with our corporate focus. The energy landscape is changing, and companies like us are changing with it. In the future, hydrogen will play a key role in sustainable energy production worldwide – as well as its safe transport in existing pipeline systems. Hydrogen has therefore been the focus of our development work for years – as well as products for offshore wind farms. With these 'superpowered' solutions, we are paving the way to a sustainable future – for the protection of people and the environment," Rosen continues.
Evaluation of ideas and competition in the Robot Games
A jury of ROSEN employees evaluated the teams in different disciplines such as the categories of research, robot design and core values. One thing quickly became clear: all teams were very creative in their elaboration. For example, the teams presented a grown duckweed as a future energy crop or topics such as glass batteries in e-mobility, vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells or the disposal of waste from the oceans with green energy. In the evaluation of the core values category, team spirit and interaction with each other were the most important factors.
At the same time, the teams had the opportunity to warm up for the upcoming Robot Games. In the Robot Games, LEGO® robots solve predefined tasks on a special playing field with LEGO® models in two and a half minutes, collecting as many points as possible. The robot's task was to collect or release energy units from various sources on the playing field and transport the energy to where it is to be stored or consumed. For example, the robot had to insert a hybrid unit into a car or supply a hydrogen plant with energy units.