When the Turbo Gatorbots gathered around their LEGO robot at the Florida FIRST LEGO League State Championship, months of testing and programming came down to one final autonomous run.
Built from LEGO components and programmed by the students, the robot navigated the themed competition field modeled after an archaeological dig site, completing missions such as clearing “topsoil,” retrieving artifacts and delivering them to a central forum area without human control.
Throughout the season, the Turbo Gatorbots, including seventh graders James Du, Dennis Chi, Jacob Li, Andrew Zhao and fourth-grader Daniel Chi from The Frazer School in Gainesville, were co-mentored by Eric Jing Du, Ph.D., the Steve and Wendy Bloom Professor in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, who guided the team through the same structured engineering process used in professional research labs.
The performance helped the team secure first place out of more than 800 teams across Florida, earning them a spot at the FIRST LEGO League World Championship in Houston this April, where roughly 200 teams from 66 countries will compete.
“When they encounter failure, they don’t see it as defeat, they treat it as data.”
– Eric Jing Du, UF Professor
The Turbo Gatorbots’ success represents more than just a robotics win. Behind the scenes, Du helped guide the young engineers through the same kind of structured problem-solving used in real-world research labs.
“They began with a clearly grounded problem definition, how to make archaeological excavation less destructive while still retrieving meaningful information,” said Du. “That framing alone shows maturity. They weren’t just trying to build something cool; they were trying to solve a meaningful problem.”
The team’s Innovation Project focused on developing artificial intelligence and sensing tools that could help archaeologists locate artifacts without disturbing excavation sites. To refine their ideas, the students conducted literature reviews and interviewed experts.
To better understand how archaeologists locate artifacts without disturbing excavation sites, the team also visited an archaeological dig in North Central Florida. The experience, arranged by Charles Cobb, Ph.D., curator and professor at the Florida Museum of Natural History, helped inform the students’ final presentation and project development.
Besides scoring first place, their project eventually led to two patent applications — an extraordinary accomplishment for students who are mostly in middle school.
“They studied existing techniques, identified limitations, proposed sensing-based alternatives and iterated repeatedly,” Du said. “Most importantly, they validated their ideas in the field. That willingness to move beyond theory and test ideas in the real world is exactly how engineering research should be done.”
The same discipline carried over into the team’s robotics work. FIRST LEGO League competition tables simulate themed engineering challenges. In this year’s “Unearthed” archaeology-themed challenge, robots were required to autonomously navigate the field to uncover maps, retrieve artifacts and transport them to a central area.
To improve reliability, the team created its own testing method, repeatedly sending the robot down a straight path and measuring its accuracy statistically rather than relying on one successful run.
“That shift from ‘it works once’ to ‘it works predictably and measurably’ is real engineering thinking,” Du said.
Mentorship from UF faculty played a key role in helping students approach challenges this way, connecting professional engineering expertise with the curiosity and creativity of young learners.
“The Turbo Gatorbots’ journey to the World Championship illustrates our engineering community’s strength,” said Warren Dixon, Ph.D., interim dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. “When we bridge the gap between professional expertise and youthful curiosity through dedicated STEM mentorship, there are no limits to what our students can solve.”
Programs like FIRST LEGO League introduce students to the engineering design process years before they step into a university classroom. Through robotics competitions, they learn how to decompose complex systems, test ideas and collaborate under pressure.
Those early experiences are critical for building the next generation of engineers, Dixon said.
“Investing in K–12 mentoring is an investment in the next generation of Gator engineers,” Dixon said. “Experiences like the FIRST LEGO League challenge students to think like innovators long before they step into a university classroom.”
For Du, watching students develop resilience and disciplined problem-solving skills at such an early age has been one of the most rewarding parts of mentoring the team.