On Friday at the Pit in Yukon College, the FIRST Lego League Robotics campers had the opportunity to showcase what they had learned over their two-week camp.

The camp culminated in a robotics competition where the campers got to compete their autonomously programmed robots to complete various missions. As well they had a small project to present and the teams were judged on core values. The project and the missions the robots completed were to the theme of space exploration.

In 2018, the premier FIRST Lego League (FLL) team from Whitehorse was formed and travelled to Victoria to compete in the B.C. FLL Provincial Tournament. There they received the Core Values award.

For FLL competitions teams prepare for months designing their robot to complete missions as well as create an original project based on the year’s challenge. For the upcoming season, the challenge is called City Shaper.

The campers in Whitehorse got a crash course in FLL as they had a week to prepare for the final competition. To run the camp, staff from FIRST Robotics Canada travelled to Whitehorse.

“A true FLL season runs three to four months,” said Heather Kelso who headed the staff who came to Whitehorse. “We condensed it to five days. The project base wasn’t as in-depth as you would do in a regular-season nor were the robots but wow did they do a great job.”

Kelso, from North Bay, Ont., is also the mentor for Leanne Watson, who started the first team in the Yukon.

Week two, according to Kelso, was intended for kids and parents who were interested in forming their own teams to participate in a full season.

“We wanted to show them what a season looks like so they know what to do,” said Kelso. “You guys are remote and the next closes team would be in B.C.”

Kelso said she was impressed by all the campers and the work they accomplished in the two weeks.

“These kids have the most resilience,” said Kelso. “These kids if we gave them a challenge they would finish it fast and then want more. That impressed us.”

For the upcoming season, four teams are registered and ready for the challenge.

“It’s so exciting,” said Kelso. “I’m passionate about anything northern. I have a passion for northern kids getting the same opportunities as southern kids. It thrills me that we are putting the Yukon on the map in the robotics world.”

The goal is eventually to have enough teams to hold an official FLL competition in the territory. There needs to be 10 teams. Even though there aren’t enough teams yet, Watson said they will still have a Yukon competition done by the books to decide who will go to provincials.

The original team is excited to have other teams in the territory to compete against and bounce ideas off of.

“That’s the biggest thing,” said Watson. “That’s the biggest thing we want to start in the Yukon. Getting our teams as a cohesive group representing the Yukon. We hope that we will meet with them a lot and work together. It’s exciting.

They know they have to up their game.

“Our motto is to do the community part of it.”

In the fall, Watson and the team will be travelling to some of the communities to introduce robotics.

Mayor Dan Curtis was in attendance to watch the campers as they showed off their robots. He said he was impressed by what the participants were able to accomplish in just two weeks.

“I’m humbled that’s for sure,” said Curtis. “The amount of information they have crammed into their minds in a short period of time and the amount of skill they are showing under pressure is really something to see. This is not fun and games they mean business.”

Curtis believes it is exciting that robotics is taking off in the Yukon and is happy that four teams have been created.

“It’s unbelievable, honestly,” said Curtis. “A community our size having this opportunity and having four teams it’s nothing short of remarkable. It’s a great opportunity.”

With this season’s theme being City Shaper all FLL teams are being asked, in their projects, to solve a problem in their home town or community.

Curtis said he would welcome all the Yukon teams to council to present their ideas on how to make Whitehorse a better place to live.

At the end of the camp, it was Team Lupus Constellation, featuring Evey Moore, Larrissa Sinclair and, Marlow Newnham-Boyd, whose robot accomplished the most missions in winning the robotics competition.

Adney Karais, Charlie Todd, and Valerie Qui-Stone of Team Space Lego had the winning Project based on a problem that could occur in space.

The Core Values winners were Keegan Newnham-Boyd and Declan Wise of Team Mission Control.