HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Hundreds of students from across Kentucky competed in trying to build the best Lego robot. 

Teams took part in what’s called the FIRST LEGO League competitions at Northern Kentucky University on Saturday.

“I just like how you can be all well rounded in all four parts so it's not one thing. You get to the whole thing with the whole team with everybody's rules,” said Ella Thompson, a 14-year-old student. 

Students engage in hands-on experiences involving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math subjects in a time-sensitive competition.

The aim is to have students program an autonomous robot to score points on a playing field to help find solutions to identified problems.

“Well some of our missions don't work as well as they do during practice and its limited time makes it difficult,” said Baker Phillips, a student watching her team compete.

The pressure for the robots to perform gives students the ability to develop their skill set.

“We just attempted a swing but it hit the tree and we just missed it,” said Aanya Chudasama, another team member.

The competitions are all part of a robotics organization called First Lego League. It gives elementary and middle school students and their adult coaches the opportunity to work and create together to solve a common problem.

“It’s a good way for me to interact with other people because I'm new. I came from England and so I met some cool people here,” Chudasama said.

This year's setup is a two-part challenge based upon a real-world scientific topic called City Shapers. It aims to create a more sustainable future by empowering homes.

A former participant and now a volunteer explains it's about passing the knowledge to the next generation.

“We committed to doing this and had so many other teams helping us, so we wanted to help other teams the way that they helped us. So we're just giving back in return,” said Austin Mattingly.

This event marks the sixth year for NKU to host the championships.