1. 2011 Coach/Mentor Workshop Kevin Reed kevin.reed@firstwa.org
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE
2011 Coach/Mentor Workshop
Kevin Reed

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3. Summary FIRST FLL Coaching Tournament Day Resources
Not much on the challenge or project topic
Two hours (usually less)

4. What is FIRST?
“… to create a world where science and technology are celebrated…where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.”
Dean Kamen, Founder, FIRST
F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organization with a mission of promoting interest in science and technology.
Our goal is to encourage students to consider careers in engineering and science.

5. FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Junior LEGO® League
FIRST Programs
501 (c) (3) Non-profit organization
Founded 1989, by inventor Dean Kamen
International HQ in Manchester, NH
85,000 volunteers
3,000+ sponsoring companies
FRC
FIRST Robotics Competition
1992
High school
14-18 yrs
FTC
FIRST Tech Challenge
2005
Middle and high school
13-18 yrs
FLL
FIRST LEGO® League
1998
Elementary and middle school
9-14 yrs
Jr.FLL
FIRST Junior LEGO® League
2006
Elementary school
6-9 yrs

6. FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Family
FIRST Robotics Competition
Jr. FIRST LEGO League
FIRST LEGO League
FIRST Tech Challenge K

7. What is FIRSTWA.ORG?
We are a small group of enthusiastic volunteers who organize and promote all FIRST programs:
FIRST Junior LEGO League
FIRST LEGO League
FIRST Tech Challenge
FIRST Robotics Competition
A division of the Seattle Robotics Association
The SRA is a 501c(3) non-profit corporation
100% volunteer effort

8. Engineering process Define problem Brainstorm solutions and select one
Keep it simple
Plan and create a flowchart and take measurements

9. Tips Divide program into small steps- use comment boxes
Program one step at a time
Action should be consistently repeatable (3x in a row)
Use my blocks (saves memory)
Pick a simple mission first that is close to base.

10. FLL Overview
FLL Core Values
Coach Promise
The Timeline

11. FLL Core Values Coach Manual, Page 1
We are a team.
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
What we discover is more important than what we win
We share our experiences with others.
We display Gracious Professionalism™ and Coopertition™ in everything we do.
We have fun.

12. Gracious Professionalism
Respect your team members at all times
Respect others as demonstrated by your actions
Recognize that friendly competition and mutual gain are possible on and off the field
Make a valued contribution with special knowledge that society entrusts us to use responsibly
Woodie Flowers, FIRST co-founder and MIT professor

13. Coopertition Friendly competition Help other teams
Handle stress with grace

14. Team Identity
Team name
Team logo

15. FLL Season Timeline Mid-May thru Mid-Sept Early September
Team formation and registration
Early September
The challenge is released
Mid-end of September
Registration closes
Sept-Oct-Nov
Teams work on the robot and project
December (first weekend)
10+ Local Qualifying Events
January
State Tournament
Mid April
FLL World Festival
FLL Regional Open

16. Team Mission Your FLL team is expected to:
Explore the challenge theme in depth
Share the fun of team based technical problem solving
Get exposure to technical and professional career paths
senior solutions

17. Team Tasks Your FLL team will spend 8-12 weeks working on:
Project
Project research, presentation preparation, practicing
Robot
Game
Robot design, programming, construction, and testing
Core Values
Learning FLL Core Values, team building, and organizing

18. Team Mechanics Teamwork Risk taking Experimentation
Working together to do a complex task
Risk taking
There is personal risk in being creative
Experimentation
Learning by trying
Dealing with failure effectively
Learning by failing and recovering

19. Evaluation of your Team
During the regional qualifiers, your team is evaluated on the three primary elements:
Project Presentation
Robot Design and Construction
Core Values (formerly Teamwork)
Evaluations are subjective and are done by a panel of volunteer judges
Awards are assigned by the judging panels
Judges use rubrics: READ THEM!

20. Evaluation of your Team: Awards
Regional Champions
Robot: Performance
Project: Research
Project: Innovative Solution
Project: Presentation
Robot: Mechanical Design
Robot: Programming
Robot: Strategy & Innovation
Core Values: Inspiration
Core Values: Teamwork
Core Values: Gracious Professionalism
Judge Award
Performance Alternate (optional)

21. Project Presentation Your team must:
Select a problem related to the topic
Create a solution
Share it with the community
Present a summary of the project to the judges that tells the story and demonstrates your team research results
Presentation format is up to your team. Use humor, skits, and other engaging elements to tell your story. Examples include newscasts, plays and songs
Watch presentation examples on the coach DVD and online.

22. Project Presentation Judging
Live performance for the judges
Practice, Practice, Practice
Video tape practice sessions
Honest critical feedback
Beware audio/visual equipment and setup time
Your team is evaluated against a rubric

23. Project Presentation Judging

24. Robot Design Your team must:
Create a strategy to maximize points in 2.5 minutes
Build a robot that interacts with mission pieces
Program the robot to accomplish missions
The robot is judged for its design quality
The robot ALSO gains the team points during the mission competition
There are hundreds of NXT tutorials online. Check FLL Team Resources and FIRSTWA FAQ

25. Robot Design Judging
Your team is interviewed by a judging panel to discuss the design and construction of their robot.
This is an interactive interview, we don’t expect a formal presentation
Your team is evaluated against a rubric

26. Robot Design Judging

27. Core Values Judging
New this year are formal judging sessions for Core Values (formerly called Teamwork).
The judges are evaluating your team with an activity during the Project session.
The judges are also observing your team at random times during the day.
Input from referees, volunteers and other teams IS accepted!

28. The Champions Award
The most prestigious award goes to the team who demonstrates core values and highest achievement in all categories:
Project Presentation
Robot Design
Teamwork
Robot Performance

29. Tournament Day Regional Qualifiers 8am to 5pm
Three main activities for teams
Pit area and practice tables
Technical, Presentation and Core Values Judging
Robot Contest
Award Ceremony mid afternoon
State Championship January 14th, 2012 (Sat)

30. What to Bring to the Tournament
Team Information Sheet
Three copies, one for each judge panel
Consent and Release form
One for each student and adult
Extra robot batteries and charger (if rechargeable)
Laptop computer for program changes
Food, drinks and snacks (unless otherwise noted)
Extension cord and power strip
Field setup kit pieces and mat (to share with organizers if needed)

31. Pit Area and Practice Tables
The Pit is where we come to find your team for all activities.
Each team has a
single table
Practice rounds
and final tune-up
of robots is
common

32. Judging: Morning
Technical, Presentation, and Core Values judging starts in the morning before the contest. A schedule for each team is posted on contest day.
Teams are retrieved
from their pit table and
returned by volunteer
runners.

33. Robot Contest: Afternoon
The contest is held in a main gym or large area
There are 3 rounds of robot contest
Best single score determines winner
Teams are retrieved by
runners, and queued up
to 3 matches early
Teams are returned to
the pits after the match

34. Award Ceremony Awards are presented at the end of the tournament
Only one judged award per team
Robot Performance is a separate award and is
based only on score
Robot performance is the
only award a team can win
in addition to a judged award

35. Advancing to Championships
Two Championship tournaments in Washington
East and West
Five teams from each regional go to Championships
Championship teams chosen by judges
Top teams in each of the three categories
Weighted to teams with great Core Values
Performance Alternate is given
when a team wins Robot
Performance award AND another
judged award that sends them to
the championships

36. Resources for Coaches Much help is available online for you
is our list
has information related specifically to our WA State program
is the international FIRST website and links to everything related to FLL
is the U.S. LEGO Education site that has NXT parts and other stuff for LEGO robots

37. High Tech Kids
Minnesota has a very well developed FLL community. They have spent tons of time producing fantastic online help for you.
FLL Training Downloads