Volunteering at Manchester Public Library
Summer is in full swing at ConnLUG, and what better time to give back to our community. On Tuesday, July 12th, ConnLUG members were joined by friend of ConnLUG, Corey Schmidek of E.Y.E.S., to conduct an afternoon program of LEGO robotics, simple machines, and Technic® builder vs builder mayhem. Our AFOL team supported 14 TFOLs over two hours as they designed, constructed, and clashed in feats of monorail strength.
During the February 2019 ConnLUG meeting, Corey conducted a similar event with ConnLUG members, and Tuesday’s event was just as fun and reminiscent of our Battle Beam Build and Bash! The rules are simple, all participants build upon a base design ‘vehicle’ that uses Technic® gears and axels to drive along a three foot rail beam. Points are assigned for a number of achievements, including being the first to the midway point of the rail, pushing your opponent back, knocking their flag off, or even sending them off of the beam. (There was much crushing of enemies and seeing them driven before them)
The TFOL builders used numerous creative techniques to challenge themselves and one another. From ramps and inclined planes to swinging arms and corkscrew drills, creativity could be seen everywhere in their monorail monstrosities. Participants learned how to adjust gear sizes and torque combinations, add additional motors for more power, and use weight displacement to become victorious.
The event culminated in challenges between the builds and their TFOL designers with several close calls, a few draws, and one nearly-undefeated champion. The participants had an amazing time and each was rewarded with a custom ConnLUG brick and ConnLUG pin for their participation in the event.
This event is one of many that ConnLUG hosts throughout the year. We are always looking for ways to give back to our community of LEGO enthusiasts and we love working with teens and adults to cultivate creativity and enjoyment with LEGO.
Interested in hosting ConnLUG for a similar event? Reach out to us to discuss and plan a community build event today!
Happy Building, Play Well!
