Letter to the Editor: BINGO Team Ready for State Robotics Finals

To the Editor:

Westborough’s robotics team B.I.N.G.O. (Big Ideas Never Grow Old) qualified for the state First Lego League competition at WPI in Worcester on Dec. 15, after placing at the regional competition in Agwam on Dec. 8. BINGO team members are Gibbons and Mill Pond students Dhruv Ramanujan, Kavya Krishna, Krithi Krishna, Maya Mundelboim, Pranav Sharma, Troy Kanji and Vidhur Ramanujan.

During several months of hard work, BINGO came up with the idea of building a website which could connect senior citizens who might be lonely with local students interested in community service.  They also built a robot, nicknamed “Falafel,” which moves on five wheels and includes line and color sensors. This is the second year the team has worked together, and their second year qualifying for the state competition.

First Lego League sponsors world-wide annual competitions.  The competitions consist of two parts – robotics and a project to solve a given problem.  This year each team had to find a solution to help make senior citizens’ lives easier.

BINGO decided to address the problem of seniors’ loneliness by creating a website to connect seniors to local volunteers.  Senior centers/homes can register at the website and create profiles for their seniors with basic information such as name, age and interests. Volunteers can use the website to find seniors they would be interested in spending time with and to contact the senior center to set up a meeting. To ensure the volunteers stay motivated, helpseniors1by1.com will offer prizes based on the amount of time spent with seniors.  BINGO met with seniors at The Willows in Westborough to present their idea and receive the seniors’ feedback.

BINGO is seeking “likes” on their Facebook page to give them momentum going into the state finals this Saturday: http://www.facebook.com/helpseniors1by1 . You can also learn more about BINGO and their ideas for helping senior citizens at their website: http://www.helpseniors1by1.com/1.html .

Thank you.

B.I.N.G.O.

Dhruv Ramanujan, Kavya Krishna, Krithi Krishna, Maya Mundelboim, Pranav Sharma, Troy Kanji, Vidhur Ramanujan