Intro to First Lego League Robotics
Les Turner
Director of Technology, Northern Indiana ESC
Head Coach, Bremen Botz!
lturner@niesc.k12.in.us
800-326-5642
www.bremenrobotics.org
FIRST HISTORY & PURPOSE
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology
Inventor Dean Kamen decides to
address lack of students pursuing
engineering careers.
1992: Creates FIRST Robotics
1992: 28 High School Teams
1999: FIRST Lego League
2009: FLL has 14,000+ Teams
2009: Over 110,000 Students
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Intro to FIRST Lego League Robotics
Les Turner, Northern Indiana ESC
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GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM
Gracious Professionalism is the primary focus of
FIRST:
High-Quality Work
Emphasize the Value of Others
Respect Individuals and the Community
“Coopertition” encourages teams to help and
cooperate with each other as they compete.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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FIRST STRUCTURE
FIRST Facilitates Several Robotics Challenges:
FRC – FIRST Robotics Challenge (age 14-18)
FTC – FIRST Tech Challenge (age 14-18)
FLL – FIRST Lego League (age 9-14)
JFLL – Junior FIRST Lego League (age 6-9)
FIRST anticipates 250,000 students participating
in it’s programs for the 2010/2011 season.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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ANNUAL CHALLENGE
May - Registration Opens (www.register4fll.com)
September – Challenge Detail Released to Teams
November – Regional Tournaments
December – State Tournament
April-May – World Festival / Open Invitationals
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Northern Indiana ESC
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FORMAT & SCORING
There are four scoring categories (100 points)
Robot Performance (25 points)
Technical Presentation (25 points)
Project Presentation (25 points)
Teamwork & FLL Values (25 points)
Other awards are given but do not add points.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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REGIONAL COMPETITIONS
November 13, 2010
Indianapolis Greenwood (20 teams)
November 20, 2010
Ethos Elkhart (30 teams)
Science Central Fort Wayne (36 teams)
Purdue University (40 teams)
Purdue Columbus (24 teams)
November 21, 2010
IU Northwest (36 teams)
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Northern Indiana ESC
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STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
December 11, 2010
IPFW - Fort Wayne
A limited number of teams qualify from each
regional event to create a field depending on
number of participants. Teams must do
Project Presentation to advance.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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WORLD FESTIVAL
April 27-30, 2011
60 Teams Advance From State Level and National
Tournaments (Champion or FLL Values Team)
States are chosen by lottery. Non-lottery states
may be invited to other Open Invitationals
Focus is less on competition and more toward
demonstration and celebration.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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TEAM ELIGIBILITY & REQUIREMENTS
Teams limited to 10 members.
Age 9-14 in calendar year.
Must register to compete.
FIRST release forms.
Students should be prepared to work
hard and have a lot of fun.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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BUDGET & FUNDING
Typical Season:
FLL Registration and Table Kit
Robot Kit (First Time)
Regional Registration
State Registration
Shirts, Props, Travel Expenses
Total Budget (approx)
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$350
$325
$ 40
$ 65
$???
$1000
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Northern Indiana ESC
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FUNDRAISING
Ideas:
Donations from local
businesses and non-profits
Car Washes
Restaurant Fund Raisers
Grants and Foundations
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Northern Indiana ESC
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THE CHALLENGE IS RELEASED
Construct the table elements
Review the Robot Game objectives and rules.
Review the Project Guidelines and goals.
Read Coaches Manual
Look for Resources
Web
Companies
Experts
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Northern Indiana ESC
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ROBOT PERFORMANCE
Usually consists of three rounds:
Robot is to accumulate as many points as
possible in 2 min 30 seconds.
No human interaction with the robot outside of
the defined base.
Highest Score wins, ties are broken with 2nd
highest scores (or sometimes time)
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Northern Indiana ESC
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TECHNICAL PRESENTATION
Students explain the design of
their robot.
Explain how they approached
the various missions and why.
Explain the programming used
to complete the missions.
Explain the roles of each team
member in the design process.
Coaches and mentors are usually
not allowed to participate in the
Technical and Project Presentations
Judges want to confirm that
the students did the work.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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PROJECT PRESENTATION
This is an opportunity for the team to explain
their research and solution. The presentation
should be entertaining and informative. It
should also address all items in the guidelines.
Judges will want to see
the teams research and
resources.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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TEAMWORK & FLL VALUES
Teamwork can be measured
in many ways:
How well you work together
and how well you work with and encourage
others!
Are you sharing what you are learning in FLL?
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Northern Indiana ESC
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TOURNAMENT PREPARATION
Robot, attachments, and spare Lego parts.
Computer with robot programs (and backups)
Research and Technical documentation.
Props and Materials for Project Presentation
Displays for Pit Area
Batteries if needed
Food and Snacks.
Good Night’s Sleep!
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Northern Indiana ESC
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BOOTH / PIT AREA
Regional and State:
Usually is an eight foot folding table.
Bring displays, props, and materials for
other teams, parents, coaches to look at to
help communicate your project.
We usually will have some kind of quiz or puzzle
related to our theme with tasty prizes.
Buttons or business cards to trade are popular.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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MINDSTORMS NXT SYSTEM
Lego NXT consists of:
Lego NXT Controller
Servo Motors
Sensors (Light, Sound, Touch, Ulrasonic)
Software to program the NXT Controller
Lego gears, beams, pins, wheels, etc.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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ROBOT CONSTRUCTION
Robot design should be solid and robust to
allow accurate and consistent movement.
Tips:
Enclose Wheels
Base Should Be Solid
Efficient Sensor Use
Side Rollers for Walls
Wide Wheelbase
Optimize Speed
Attachments should install/remove easily.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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PROGRAMMING
Good programming is key to success in the FLL
Robot Game. The program can often correct for
deficiencies in the Robot Design:
Use MyBlocks to reuse code.
Allows the same code to be used multiple times.
Changes only have to be made in one place.
Build a menu to run different tasks.
Saves a lot of time searching for the programs.
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Northern Indiana ESC
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TOOLS AND SITES
Diigo Collaboration Tool – www.diigo.com
Indiana FLL Site - www.etcs.ipfw.edu/fll
FLL National – www.firstlegoleague.org
FLL Registration – www.register4fll.com
TechBrick – www.techbrick.com
Coaches Primer – www.fll-freak.com
Programming – www.ortop.org/NXT_Tutorial
Bremen Botz! – www.bremenbotz.com
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Northern Indiana ESC
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Registration ends tomorrow!
Interest in more detailed workshops?
Robot Construction
Programming Techniques
Any other questions?
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Northern Indiana ESC
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