It’s not like the robot battles out of the Steven Spielberg movie AI, but a kinder, gentler, smarter kind of robot competition as kids like Cameron Di Robertis from Team Evil Genius Too (pictured above) flock to Legoland to put their “autonomous robots” up against others in The First Lego League Tournament December 6-7, 2008..
On Dec. 6, 2008, LEGOLAND hosts the FLL Southern California Championship Tournament and as well as the FLL Los Angeles Region Championship Tournament on Dec. 7. Competition is expected to be fierce as 102 teams of children ages 9 to 14 compete in using robots to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical environmental issues: climate conditions. Winners from these tournaments advance to the FIRST World Festival. . . .The tournament challenges teams to use science and technology as they build, program and test an autonomous robot to compete with other teams’ robots in an obstacle course.
And yes, these events are more fun than they sound. All the info after the jump.
LEGO® + Robots + Science
= FIRST LEGO LEAGUE
LEGOLAND® California Hosts 700 Youngsters
In Annual Robotics Competition
Download photo
(right-click and select “Save As”)
Cameron Di Robertis from “Team Evil Genius Too” out of Rio Norte Junior High in Valencia. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (Nov. 20, 2008) – The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League Tournament (FLL) at LEGOLAND® California will be bigger and better than ever this year with the addition of a second day of high-energy robotics competition. On Dec. 6, 2008, LEGOLAND hosts the FLL Southern California Championship Tournament and as well as the FLL Los Angeles Region Championship Tournament on Dec. 7. Competition is expected to be fierce as 102 teams of children ages 9 to 14 compete in using robots to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical environmental issues: climate conditions. Winners from these tournaments advance to the FIRST World Festival.
The tournament challenges teams to use science and technology as they build, program and test an autonomous robot to compete with other teams’ robots in an obstacle course. Teams have the option of using LEGO MINDSTORMS® or LEGO MINDSTROMS NXT to build their robots for the challenge. The teams, which come from all over California, have eight weeks to design and refine their robots before putting them to the test by completing a series of missions on the obstacle course. Each team also writes and presents a research assignment based on the tournament’s theme.
The FIRST LEGO League Tournament, takes place in LEGOLAND California’s Imagination Zone from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is designed to teach children how to apply creative thinking and robotics to real-life situations. With missions exploring “climate connections” such as greenhouse gasses, wildlife and preparation for the world’s ever-changing climate conditions, teams will program their robots to explore the growing questions around climate. The competition is judged in four areas: project presentation; robot performance; technical design and programming of the robot; and teamwork.
FIRST collaborated with the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory; professors at MIT and University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and experts from LEGO Education to create a theme and challenge missions that are reflective of today’s real world issues.
FLL is a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Company, which has been helping young people discover the fun in science and technology while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills since 1998. FIRST is a non-profit organization founded by world-renowned inventor, Dean Kamen, to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
Currently in its 10th year, FIRST LEGO League anticipates its biggest season ever, with more than 13,500 teams in 40 countries competing in hundreds of qualifying events and championship tournaments. More than 135,000 children will compete to win honors and recognition. Teams also have the opportunity to participate in the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, held in conjunction with the FIRST Championship April 16-18, 2008 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
RSS Feed-Posts
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We just completed one of the Virginia FIRST FLL tournaments last weekend at Maggie Walker High School. FIRST robotics is such a great learning experience for all the kids, young adults, parents, judges and other volunteers.
I’ve been an engineering judge for a couple of year and am always delighted with the stories of overcoming great obstacles. Here is a great story of a journey to self-actualization from this years tournament http://vitaljourney.org/2008/11/16/robotics-the-closet-conflict-resolution-and-the-journey-to-self-actualization/
Eric
Just to let you know,
our team#4128 Weather Robots got first place overall and
are heading to Atlanta, Georgia to compete.
it wasn’t very hard but you have to put a lot of time and money into it.
my parents were the coaches and they are very stressed out so if
you every think of being a coach………………….
our team has 8 girls (mostly 6th graders but we have one 5th, 7th and 8th)
it was a great experience so you should either find a team to join or start one!
-Ariel