On 30 July, the South African LEGO User Group, or zaLUG, was invited by Hands on Tech to display its GBC (great ball contraption) special project at the Gauteng South Provincial competition finals of the South African chapter of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) which was held at Curro Aurora.

Supported by LEGO’s corporate office for Special Project Support which aims to facilitate unique projects by allowing recognised groups to purchase LEGO elements in bulk, 18 members of zaLUG participated in the project which kicked off in 2019.

zaLUG was able to display all their GBC modules at the event and, more importantly, also built a freestanding GBC module which achieved a record-breaking height of 5,404 metres!

The event played host to 69 robotics teams with 172 participants, and around 250 spectators. The GBC circuit generated huge interest among the visitors, both young and old, and was deemed a great success by zaLUG.