Just before Earth Day last month, a small team of teens from rural Placer County showed the world how to build a robot – and save energy.
Well, make that the world finals.
The Lego Guards from Meadow Vista pitted their energy-cutting techniques and engineering skills against youth teams from around the world in a popular robotics contest.
Just competing at the finals is an honor, said the team's coach, Alan LeVezu. Only 81 teams of 10,000 worldwide qualify for the contest's top level.
"It's like being asked to go to the Olympics," he said.
The event was the world finals of the FIRST LEGO League Competition in Atlanta. The annual contest tests youths' teamwork in designing and building a robot of LEGO parts and then programming it to complete a set of tasks. Teams also have to research a theme and give a detailed presentation to judges.
Going into the finals, the Lego Guards had an impressive win on the records. The team members – all home-schooled – had defied odds to capture the contest's Northern California championship, emerging first of 282 teams.
"This little home-study school team from the foothills went against Bay Area schools with lots of sponsors," recalled assistant coach Heidi Buck.
Despite having dropped their robot the night before the finals, the team members finished the world finals with the first-place award for engineering.
"It's the highest award that we know of for any California team to achieve," Buck said.
The victory was an unforgettable experience for team members Gavin Owens, 13; Karl LeVezu, 14; Alejandro Vega, 12; Justin Demma, 13; and Robin Moss, 14 and the only girl.
But the real winner ultimately may be the Placer County main library. After the environmentally conscious team selected the building as its energy-audit project for the world finals, team members evaluated it from top to bottom for energy efficiency.
The teens did their homework: They did hours of research about the latest energy-saving methods and consulted with professionals in the field.
Then, the team presented detailed recommendations for the library that may save the county as much as $12,000 with short-term fixes and $47,000 a year if long-term solutions are implemented.
"The biggest short-term solution was replacing the light bulbs," Alan LeVezu said, adding that the team found out the new bulbs were available free from Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Some long-term solutions involved installing a solar-power system at the library, but team members recommended postponing the project because the cost of solar equipment is expected to drop in a couple of years.
The library board is studying the recommendations, and the county supervisors have given the team members an official commendation.
And the teens are showing they're interested in energy saving for the real world, not just for contests.
To learn more about a team of extraordinary teens, visit www.legoguards.net/FLLWF.
Yvonne McKinney is the bureau chief of the Roseville Bureau. She can be reached at (916) 773-6866 or ymckinney@sacbee.com.
