Wy’east team Pisces of LEGOs invited to West Virginia

The event is sponsored by NASA IV&V, and the Wy’east team is one of six to be invited to the July competition, said a press release.

“We will be the first team ever from Oregon invited to the Mountain State International Competition at Fairmont State University in West Virginia,” the team writes on its GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.com/wyeast-team-pisces-of-legos-to-west-virginia.

“The tournament will last for three days, and we will be competing against teams from all over the world.”

This year’s project challenge was to find an innovative solution to a physical or social problem faced by humans in long-term space exploration, said a press release. The team identified the problem of inefficient use of watering plants in space and designed a reusable watering system, called SPROUT, that will water multiple plants at once and can be automated.

“We are learning invaluable work and life skills as we design, build, test and redesign to continue to make our work and ourselves better,” said the press release.

The team says of its name, “Why are we called Pisces of LEGOs versus Pieces of LEGOs? Well, not only do we love science and technology, we also love to have fun with puns and jokes. And it so happens that this year’s FLL challenge ‘INTO ORBIT’ is about space, so we combined the two.”

The team is currently fundraising for the trip. Expenses include a $500 registration fee, airfare, hotel and robot shipping costs. All donations are tax deductible.