Students take on world Lego contenders as 'The Crazy Pizza People'

Shelby Township Lego team will compete against other countries at World Lego Robotic Festival this spring

They call themselves the 'Crazy Pizza People' and they are on a mission to beat the world with their Lego skills.

"We build Legos, we build a robot, and do missions," said Cheynee Smith, one of the Crazy Pizza People.

The Crazy Pizza People are students from Shelby Township who won regional and state competitions and will represent Michigan in the World Lego Robotic Festival this spring.

The students, between the ages of nine and 12 years old, created a Lego robot. The team will compete against others from Australia, England, Japan and China.   

The students are very complimentary of each other's skills.

"Alex is very good at building a robot," said teammate Carter O'Donnell. "Cheyenne and Katie are good at programming."

The students build computer programs for a robot to follow on its own and then they move it through a maze of missions that includes lifting, pushing, and moving objects from high and low places.

"With the robot, you have to complete certain amount of challenges in a certain amount of time," said O'Donnell.

The Crazy Pizza People will also have to take a real life problem with a solution to the judges during the competition.   After speaking to their grandparents, they learned some seniors didn't save enough for retirement, and decided their theme would be Senior Solutions.  They even named their robot Granny.

"I learned that it's really important to start saving young for retirement because if you don't, you won't live retirement like you live everyday life," said Alex Roy.

The World Lego Robotic Festival will be held in St. Louis in April.

For more information on the Crissman First Lego League and The Crazy Pizza People project, click here.