courtesy of Denise Schang/Special to the Town Crier LegoStars team members prepare to launch their robot on a mission during the FLL regional qualifier at Oak school.

Los Altos Robotics held its eighth annual First Lego League (FLL) qualifying tournament Nov. 18, with eight teams advancing to the Northern California Championship Tournament scheduled Jan. 20 in San Jose.

The competition required tournaments at Loyola and Oak Avenue elementary schools to accommodate the increase in participation: 119 students from at least 14 schools formed 27 teams.

Each team built a robot that performs a set of predetermined tasks in two minutes. The entry was judged on the performance of the robot, the creativity of the design, the quality of the software and the teamwork demonstrated. Additionally, teams had to present a research project on nanotechnology.

The selected teams were the DogBots, Lords of the Legos, Lego Legends and the Bionic Builders from the Oak tournament; and Small is Beautiful, the LEGOers, the Supersonic Turtles and Bobcat from the Loyola tournament.

For more information, visit www.LosAltosRobotics.org or contact Michael Schuh at Michael@LosAltosRobotics.org or 965-8037.