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Cyberknights headed to first championships  

The Cyberknights are prepared for the SoCal Championships to be held on Dec. 17. (courtesy photo)

Cyberknights headed to first championships  

Cyberknights, a local First Lego League (FLL) team comprised of six fifth-graders from Dingeman Elementary School is gearing up for the SoCal Championships to be held on Dec. 17.

The team includes Reva Yalamanchili, Anisha Majumder, Ria Johari, Naitik Gajjar, Siddhartha Chinniah and Neel Bhole. It came together in early September. With a tight timeline of two months, the team met three to four times a week to plan and execute robotic missions, and conceptualize and develop an innovation project. Under the guidance of team coaches Gaurav Gajjar and Minal Tapar, the six enthusiastic fifth-graders left no stone unturned in preparing for the FLL Super-Powered competitions.

The team’s robotic design underwent several iterations with meticulous attention to documentation. For their innovation project, the team members chose to give back to their community by coming up with a proposal that utilized Dingeman Elementary School ‘s cafeteria food waste to power microbial fuel cells as a means of generating clean energy.

Feedback from experts at UCSD and USC helped propel the team in the right direction. By the time the qualifiers rolled around in early November, the team members were ready to shine. They came away with the Best Innovation Project award at the SoCal Qualifying Tournament and most recently were recognized as the Runner-Up Champions at the SoCal Regionals. The team is headed to the SoCal Championships on Dec. 17 at UC Riverside. With renewed vigor, they remain focused on fortifying their innovation proposal, alongside improving their robotic performance.

Their optimistic outlook and commitment to improvement continue to fuel their motivation.