SBPLI FLL 2004 Tournament:
We would like to thank the following SBPLI-Long Island
tournament sponsors:
Bank of America
NYS Technology Association
Event Pros Group
Lenetix Medical Screening Laboratory
Islip Terrace JHS Robotics Club
Applebee’s
Robotech
Janet Anderson
Jeff Stern |
 |
On
Sunday, January 30, 2005, 15 middle school robotics teams on Long Island
attended a very exciting tournament held at Longwood High School in Middle
Island, NY. This inaugural event was organized by School Business
Partnerships of Long Island (SBPLI) and was the result of some hard work by
committee members that included technology teachers, parent coaches and business
professionals. FIRST, as you may
know, is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology. Each year, FIRST
announces a new challenge for students to tackle.
This year’s theme was called “No Limits” and focused on helping
people with different levels of physical ability.
Starting in September, teams received
their LEGO Mindstorms kit as well as their practice playing field.
Students take on roles such as builder, programmer and researcher. Using LEGO pieces and other elements including sensors,
motors, and gears, team members learn about engineering design and computer
programming through hands-on experience. Students
also develop research presentations based on the theme for the year.
Congratulations to the Award Winners:
Robot Performance, Highest Score (172
points) - Team 1525 of Longwood
Robot Performance, Highest Average Score (160 points) - Team 1525 of
Longwood
Research Presentation - Team 3529 LIRC from Plainview
Robot Design - Team 2529 from Miller Place
Teamwork - Team 2533 from Southold
Director's Award - Team 3328 from West Islip
For information on next year’s Long Island
tournament, contact Janet Anderson - SBPLI
jander2@optonline.net
Description:
FIRST LEGO League is the exciting middle school
division of the FIRST robotics competition.
It's purpose is to inspire students to
work together, be creative, engage in real world problems and promote interest
in careers in science, technology and engineering. (FIRST- For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology)
Each year, students are presented with a new challenge derived from a
real life situation. Students use
the LEGO Mindstorms system to build and program an autonomous robot to complete
missions. The
robot can be built using any LEGO elements and up to 3 motors, a rotation
sensor, 2 touch sensors, 2 light sensors, 1 lamp, eight wires and the RCX block.
The RCX block is a microprocessor that receives its programming from a
computer via an infrared transmitter. Everything
the robot does must be planned and programmed using Robolab (or RIS) software;
students have no way of controlling the robot after the “run” button is
pushed.
The robot has 2 1/2 minutes to complete
as many missions as possible. Team members must plan
their strategy carefully. Each
mission has a different point value. Touching
the robot after it leaves base results in point penalties.
Another
part of the challenge is the research assignment. Students choose a mission from the challenge to study and
propose a question. They brainstorm
a solution, refine their ideas and prepare a presentation of their research to
show the judges.
Teams
are limited to ten members between the ages of 9-14.
Team members can be delegated responsibilities such as strategists,
programmers, robot builders, field setup, logo designers, team historians and
researchers.
Materials Needed:
Team
Challenge Set (Lego Mindstorms, $200, reusable each year)
FLL Challenge Set ($50, need a new set each year)
many AA batteries, one 9 volt battery
Computers
with Internet access
Registration
($150 each year)
4x8
plywood for field setup (could use floor)
Plano
tackle box (optional, for parts storage)
Time:
5-6
hours a week from October through January
Appropriate Content
Standards Connections (NYS):
MST #1 Analysis Inquiry and Design
#2
Information Systems
#3
Mathematics
#4 Science
#5
Technology
#6
Interconnectedness: Common Themes
#7
Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
ELA #1 Language for Information and Understanding
#3 Language
for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
#4 Language
for Social Interaction
FLL Themes:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Ocean Odyssey
2005 |
No Limits
2004 |
Mission Mars
2003 |
CitySights
2002 |
Artic
Impact
2001 |
Volcanic
Panic
2000 |
First
Contact
1999 |
Getting
Started:
Good luck with the FLL-there is so much to think about there-it's hard to know
where to start.
First, the kids and coach can't really
begin to understand the competition until the LEGO pieces are assembled and
placed on the playing field. That's
two hours. Once that happens, spend an hour just staring at the board,
trying to take it all in and understand the point values.
This year, I brought in a DUPLO car (you know toddler LEGOS) and we used
that to simulate how our robot might move.
Try to figure out how you'll accomplish
the missions. Don't feel you have
to do all the missions- I don't think I've seen it done in NY, although there
are a couple of teams in the country who have. Don't try to do all the
missions on one program- if it doesn't work, you are stuck.
You can save 5 programs on the RCX, so it makes sense to group 2-3
missions together on one program, and then have the robot return to base. At the base, you can rebuild the robot, adding different
accessories and send it out again. Sometimes,
it makes sense to take a penalty and carry the robot back to base, so that you
can more quickly attempt another mission.
Show the RCX Block with the 3 outputs
for motors, lights... and three inputs for light sensor, touch sensor,
rotational sensor.... I give a quick start lesson on Robolab
and then, I have the students teach themselves how to program using
materials available on the internet or pilot lessons 1, 2 & 3. You can
have them copy programs at the inventor level and test them out on the robot. By copying the programs, they find out about all the
different functions.
While some kids are trying the program,
others can build the practice robot to for them to try it out on.
The programmers need to see at least once or twice how to download the
program, and how it is working before, the builders start making the actual
competition robot. (Aim to get two
robot sets for the team, one to practice learning the programs and the other for
building.) Everyone has to work
together.... the programmers may have the perfect program and then the builders
change the wheels on the robot and kablooie, nothing works anymore.
Or the batteries wear down. Remember,
to keep the RCX unit accessible for changing batteries.
Also
remember, KISS (Keep it simple, silly.) One
mission stumped us a couple of years ago, but when we got to the competition and
saw the simple attachment many teams had made, we were stunned by the
simplicity. At the same
competition, I saw a robot that was incredible for its engineering, but the team
had never gotten around to programming. So
quick easy attachments, that you can put on for a mission or two and then pull
off may be the best way to go.
LInks
http://www.firstlegoleague.org
Register for the 2005 competition between May and September; the challenge
is announced in September.
Costs: $150 for registration, $50 for challenge set (playing field mat and LEGO
pieces)
Use your own LEGO Mindstorms or order a kit here.
The SBPLI FLL challenge will be in January 2006.
Don't
forget to join the forum. You can get all sorts of great ideas from fellow
coaches.
http://fll-freak.home.comcast.net/misc/handbook.pdf
Unofficial Coaches Handbook- A good place to start.
https://www.hightechkids.org/hightechkids/Authentication.do?p=login
Great training material available, with week by week lessons.
Create a free user account. Then choose
training download to find a list of helpful items.
http://www.plestore.com/
PITSCO Lego Education Store- Really, we don’t lose many pieces, but if
we do, they have them.
http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/education/roboticscurriculum/index_to_robotics.htm
The Robotics Academy...They mean business, they even include quizzes!
http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/robolabatceeo/
Tufts University offers courses, conferences, building directions, sample
programs and much more.
http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/graphics/robolab.html
Robolab from Tufts University
http://www.lego.com/education/mindstorms/images/eng/downloads/led_quick_start_guide_eng.pdf
Quick Start Guide to Robolab from the LEGO Education Division
