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FIRST LEGO LEAGUE
(This is the general FLL page, visit this year's specific page below)
So set aside DECEMBER 10th, 2011
at the Augusta Civic Center for this year's challenge!!
Here is a document on Starting an FLL Team, might be of help.
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 2010 season, over 16,000 North American teams and thousands more from around the
world participated in the Body Forward season, all about biomedical engineering.
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 - www.mainerobotics.org/nolimits.html
2005 Ocean Odyssey - www.mainerobotics.org/oceans.html
2006 Nano Quest - www.mainerobotics.org/nanoquest.html
2007 Power Puzzle - www.mainerobotics.org/powerpuzzle.html
2008 Climate Connection - www.mainerobotics.org/climateconnections.html
2009 SMART MOVE - www.mainerobotics.org/smartmove.html
2010 BODY FORWARD - www.mainerobotics.org/bodyforward.html
2011 FOOD FACTOR - www.mainerobotics.org/foodfactor.html
General Calendar for the FLL:
December (previous year) - announcement of the upcoming challenge theme
May 1st - Registration opens for the current year
Summer - equipment and table top kits begin shipping
September 3th - 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 - Maine State tournaments
April - International tournament in Atlanta Georgia
Cost to run a FIRST LEGO League team:
* 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): $420 + shipping (many flavors of the kit are available, ranging from
around $200 on eBay to $420 for the official FLL kit. Bottom line is that 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 6 years ago, probably time to move on. Also the current version of the MindStorms
software (9/20/2011) is 2.1, which works well (I'm told) with the Maine Apple Laptops.
So the cost is either around $800 if you need the MindStorms kit, or around $450 if
you already have one.
For more information on knowing what to purchase go here:
Purchasing a MindStorms Kit (Word) (PDF)
(This is the general FLL page, visit this year's specific page below)
So set aside DECEMBER 10th, 2011
at the Augusta Civic Center for this year's challenge!!
Here is a document on Starting an FLL Team, might be of help.
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 2010 season, over 16,000 North American teams and thousands more from around the
world participated in the Body Forward season, all about biomedical engineering.
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 - www.mainerobotics.org/nolimits.html
2005 Ocean Odyssey - www.mainerobotics.org/oceans.html
2006 Nano Quest - www.mainerobotics.org/nanoquest.html
2007 Power Puzzle - www.mainerobotics.org/powerpuzzle.html
2008 Climate Connection - www.mainerobotics.org/climateconnections.html
2009 SMART MOVE - www.mainerobotics.org/smartmove.html
2010 BODY FORWARD - www.mainerobotics.org/bodyforward.html
2011 FOOD FACTOR - www.mainerobotics.org/foodfactor.html
General Calendar for the FLL:
December (previous year) - announcement of the upcoming challenge theme
May 1st - Registration opens for the current year
Summer - equipment and table top kits begin shipping
September 3th - 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 - Maine State tournaments
April - International tournament in Atlanta Georgia
Cost to run a FIRST LEGO League team:
* 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): $420 + shipping (many flavors of the kit are available, ranging from
around $200 on eBay to $420 for the official FLL kit. Bottom line is that 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 6 years ago, probably time to move on. Also the current version of the MindStorms
software (9/20/2011) is 2.1, which works well (I'm told) with the Maine Apple Laptops.
So the cost is either around $800 if you need the MindStorms kit, or around $450 if
you already have one.
For more information on knowing what to purchase go here:
Purchasing a MindStorms Kit (Word) (PDF)
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE
