State Champions!

The 2025/26 FIRST LEGO League Indiana State Championship was held at the University of Indianapolis on Saturday, January 10. Four of the GEARS teams qualified to attend the 36-team event. FLL Team 7316, That Robo Team, won the State Championship in Robot Performance and became the 24th GEARS team to win a State Championship. The full list of winners can be found here.

For the Unearthed season, teams learned about archeology and the challenges that professionals face while doing their research. After talking to professionals, each team created a unique solution to a real world problem. They presented their solutions and prototypes to a panel of judges for evaluation.

Most students join a FIRST LEGO League team because they enjoy working with LEGO and they want to learn more about building and programming LEGO robots. This year the teams used the LEGO SPIKE PRIME to develop some of the most unique and high performing robots that we have ever seen. Not only did the teams compete with their robots, but they also presented their design process, including challenges and successes, to a panel of judges.

Throughout the season, teams developed their FIRST Core Values while doing their research and creating their robots. The team members learned about being an active part of a team while developing their self-confidence. The FIRST Core Values are: Teamwork, Inclusion, Impact, Innovation, Discovery and Fun.

FLL Team 7316, That Robo Team, won the State Championship Robot Game. They were also a Champion’s Award Finalist and will be competing this summer at an International Tournament.

FLL Team 18067, Holy LEGOs Batman, was also a Champion’s Award Finalist and will be traveling this summer to an International Tournament. They placed 5th in Robot Performance.

FLL Team 66154, Galactic Turtles, earned the Peer Award. This award is nominated by other participating teams and is given to a team that goes above and beyond to help and encourage other teams. They also placed 14th in Robot Performance.

FLL Team 66153, Let’s Think Abot It, was our only rookie team to qualify for the State Championship. They earned a Core Values Finalist Award at the Northern Semi-State to qualify for the State Championship.

Spring Series 2026 Registration is Open!

We are excited to provide our eight season of the Spring Series FIRST LEGO League Challenge for teams in 2026! Once again, we will be hosting a series of four FLL Robot Game events. Each of these will be hosted at the GEARS facility in Osceola.

Teams are encouraged to share, observe, advise, or simply visit with other teams at each event so they can learn from each other. Since each competition is spread 4 weeks apart, teams will have ample time to modify their robots or adjust their strategy in an effort to improve their performance at the next event.

Events will be held on the mornings of:

- - February 7, 2026
  - March 7, 2026
  - April 4, 2026
  - May 2, 2026

If you have a student in 3rd through 8th grade that would like to be on a team that meets at GEARS, please use this registration form.

If you coach a team that meets at a location other than GEARS, please fill out this form.

More information about the Spring Series can be found here.

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First Lego League with Northern Indiana Robotics

Northern Indiana's Premier Robotics Community Center

First Tech Challenge with Northern Indiana Robotics

GEARS is a youth robotics center in northern Indiana focused on STEM education through the hosting of competitive robotics teams utilizing the FIRST program. We host students in grades 4 through 12 in FIRST Lego League and FIRST Tech Challenge programs. Students design, build, and program a robot to compete in a unique challenge each season. We have hosted thousands of students in the last eight years and look forward to hosting many more.