Three local robotics teams qualify for World Championships

The Grade 7 robotics team from Holy Cross Catholic school is the only elementary school entry from Windsor-Essex that will compete in the First Lego League Into Orbit World Championships at Detroit’s Cobo Center this month.

Two secondary school teams — Massey and Sandwich — also  qualified for the championships, which run April 24-27.

The six-member Space Cadets team from Holy Cross has been working since September on its robot and designing a product to help astronauts with disrupted sleep patterns. The group has been working on dimming goggles that help a body’s internal clock deal with the 16 sunrises and sunsets faced on the International Space Station.

The goggles would help astronauts maintain regular work schedules in space. Many astronauts face sleep disruption, obesity and mood disorders because their bodies cannot regulate to the ever-changing day and night environment. The Space Specs goggles would be programmed to provide light or dim light depending on schedules.

The team took first place for robot performance at the regional competition at St. Clair College in December and qualified for the provincial competition in Waterloo in February.

The Sandwich Sabre Bytes have a team of 46 students. The Mustangs are making their second appearance at world finals in four years.