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JANESVILLE, Wis. - Janesville Parker High School hosted a statewide Lego robotics championship Sunday, where 36 teams showed off their programming skills.

The program First Lego League is for students in fourth through eighth grades. This years theme, Animal Allies, asked students to build and program a Lego robot to complete animal-related tasks.

Teams also invented products to solve real-world problems. One groups project hit close to home for members.

Anvita and Anay Bansal, from Richmond Schools team, recently lost their cousin in India to dengue fever. Anvita explained that this is a viral infection caused by the Aedes mosquito.

Our whole team was really struck by [his death], Anvita said. We wanted to make sure this didnt happen to anybody else, so we decided to make preventing dengue our project for Lego League.

The team from Sussex, Wisconsin created a device to repel mosquitoes that may be carrying the deadly virus. The invention had rotating chambers filled with various essential oils. Their project even explained financial details about how to make this product affordable to those living in third world countries.

The six winning teams selected at the Wisconsin robotics championship will move on to the national level, with four teams advancing to the First Lego League world festival and two teams submitting their projects to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Lego robotics championship encourages students to solve real-world problems - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3