The FIRST® LEGO® League is an international STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) program based out of Manchester New Hampshire.  In Maine, we run the FLL, coordinate with the many teams, and host the Maine FLL Championship.  Each year the program hosts a new theme and missions for the robots to complete.  For each different year you can click on the FIRST LEGO League tab above and select the different year's theme.

The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) held it's first competition in 1998.  Maine has been competing
since the 2000 tournament when the challenge was Volcanic Panic.

The FLL is a program aimed at 9 to 14 year olds with an interest in science and technology.  FIRST even means "For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology" and was started by the famed U.S. inventor Dean Kamen.

For the 2011 season, over 17,000 North American teams and thousands more from around the world participated in the FOOD FACTOR season, all about food safety.  Here in Maine we had 66 teams and around 530 team members all working to build and program robots while also researching about today's food safety issues.

Teams have from 2 to 10 children on them and work throughout the season preparing for the tournaments.  The best way to describe it is a cross between a robot track meet and a science fair.  Teams build, test, and program robots made entirely from LEGOs to compete on a 4' x 8'
playing field that has missions devoted to the year's theme.  The team also researches and gives a presentation on a topic within the theme for the year.  Other areas the teams are evaluated on include team spirit, teamwork, programming, and design.

Teams are made up from in-school, after-school, homeschool, neighborhood, family, and community organization backgrounds.  In other words, anyone with the equipment and the desire can form a team.

For more information:
The national FLL website is First Lego League
The US FIRST website is www.usfirst.org

The Maine Robotics websites for particular years:
2004 No Limits 
2005 Ocean Odyssey
2006 Nano Quest 
2007 Power Puzzle
2008 Climate Connection
2009 Smart Move 
2010 Body Forward
2011 Food Factor

General Calendar for the FLL:

• December (previous year) - announcement of the upcoming challenge theme
  
• May 7th - Registration opens for the current year
  
• Summer - equipment and table top kits begin shipping
  
• First week of September - Official announcement with all details of the challenge
  
• End of Sept. - National registration closes (or when all team slots are full)
  
• October - State registration open
  
• December 8th, 2012 - Maine State tournaments
  
• April - International WORLD FESTIVAL tournament in St. Louis (April)
  

Cost to run a FIRST LEGO League team: (subject to grants and changes for the next season)

* National Registration:  $225 + shipping
* State Registration: (varies by state, Maine is $150)
* Field Set-up kit:  $65 + shipping (playing field mat and pieces - new each year)
* MindStorms kit (if needed):  $395 + shipping    (many flavors of the kit are available, ranging from around $200 on eBay to $395 for the official FLL kit.  Bottom line is any will do, but make sure you get the newer NXT controller, not the older RCX controller.  Both are good, but they replaced the RCX 3 years ago, probably time to move on.  Also if you are running Windows Vista, make sure you don't get the MindStorms 1.0 software (used only) as it has issues with Vista.  Version 1.1 and on all work.

So the cost is either around $800 if you need the MindStorms kit, or under $450 if
you already have one.  

For more information on knowing what to purchase see the document below: