PARIS — Pipe Patrol, the Oxford Hills Homeschool Robotics team, has been invited to represent Maine at the FIRST Lego League California International Open in Carlsbad California.

The competition among teams from across the country is set for May 18 to 20. It’s the second consecutive year the team has been invited to the competition.

In December 2017, the team placed second at the FIRST Lego League state competition in Augusta. Nancy Lynch, whose daughter is a member of the team, said the Pipe Patrol won the second-place Champion’s Award.

The FIRST Lego League presents team members ages 9 to 14 with real-world problems to research and attempt to solve.

Lynch said hydro dynamics was the theme of the December competition. Students “focused on water pipes freezing and bursting in cold weather, especially in older houses and mobile homes,” she said.

“After conversations with local experts, including Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates, students made a list of current solutions,” according to a news release by the team. “They then worked to develop an idea of their own that includes using heat tape, a sensor with Wi-Fi alert and a solar panel as a backup energy source.”

Parents of the team members said Amber Lynch, Joshua Wessels, Nathan Cooper and Lucas Yates are working to further develop their project idea and presentation and improve their robot, while raise money for travel.

Pipe Patrol will host an indoor yard sale March 9 and 10 at the South Paris Baptist Church on Route 26. People can donate items from 9 a.m. to noon March 7 and 8.

For more information on the yard sale or the trip, call 207-743-6329 or e-mail maisy.cyr@maine.edu.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Amber Lynch, Lucas Yates, Joshua Wessels and Nathan Cooper, left to right, are members of Pipes Patrol, the Oxford Hills Homeschool Robotics team invited to compete in a national competition in California from May 18 to 20. (Submitted photo)

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