Experience with the First Lego League?

[Cara]

My kids after school program (GATE) was looking at starting a LEGO robotics club with the idea of doing the First Lego League challenge. As a MOCer I probably have the most LEGO experience of any of the parents that spoke up :P and I have 0 Mindstorm experience!

So I wanted to ask if anyone here has had experience with this league event? And if so any recommendations for or against?

Also do any of you know of any grants or programs that LEGO or someone else may run to help children get these kind of projects off the ground? Apparently from what I was told at our first meeting my state (CA) doesn't have any funding for this program even though they run it (or require the parents to run it!)

[pbr]

Hi! Happy to share my experience.

I mentor for FIRST, and volunteer as a judge, field operator, or whatever is needed for the regional competitions. For mentoring I like to help the First Lego League (4th/5th/6th graders, whereas the other leagues are for older students). I think Dean Kamen's done an awesome job of motivating, coordinating, and empowering volunteers to make FIRST into an incredible organization. I can definitely recommend getting involved with FIRST. There are various levels - depending on the age of the children. FLL teams might not have the students doing their own outreach for sponsors, community involvement, etc. but the older leagues certainly do. At the FTC and FRC levels the teams are expected to be self-funded - and that doesn't mean parents covering the difference. It means they find sponsors, do fundraisers, etc. as well as build and program the robot.

For the FLL, the kids are young enough that it's doubtful they'd be able to estimate their team spend, find sponsors, etc. However, they're also not building a robot that involves cutting, custom parts, etc. - FLL robots are ONLY build with LEGO - not with metal. SO... that means the school can re-use the LEGO kits from year to year. That means, if you find some corporate sponsors (who might also contribute mentors, guidance, etc. along with LEGO kits) one year, they won't have to throw the same amount of money at the project the 2nd, third, fourth year. Of course, there will be some need for replacements - rechargeable batteries fail after a while, for example. Parts break, and disappear. But, generally, the kits should be useful from year to year.

I would invest in EV3 kits - NOT in NXT kits - if I were you. The software's better, the controllers are more powerful and more capable, and the kit's simply better than the earlier NXT kits were. For around $1000 US you could get 3 kits, enough to support a dozen students (four per team) - and that's not an unreasonable amount to ask of a corporate sponsor.

Hope this helps! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have further questions.

[JopieK]

Indeed, without the NXT it will be hard to keep up a relevant battle! I am coordinator in my school (currently 3 teams, hope to have 5 teams next year). I am also main judge in our region. Some old students of the college I used to work for, are also judges (and of course if my high school teams are playing I will not make any decisions :)). We bought 3 EV's. I think it was a mistake to already allow the EV3 with 4 motors this year. There is a supply shortage of EV3's and also the EU crisis is a big deal for schools.

[Someonenamedjon]

You could also give robofest a try, but the real competition would be between me and my friend's team, which has won first in the world competition for 4 years staright.

Most of the people there use the mindstorms.

edit: Robofest is based in Michigan, and is like $20.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Someonenamedjon

[Rob Klingberg]

Thanks for the feedback-- I too have questions about FLL experience as my daughter (4th grade) will be starting on our school's first team this coming Wednesday (Minnesota). I love that FLL seems to take the LEGO team experience to the next level by building robots and competing. I also love that it gives kids (especially girls!) in lower school an outlet for their urge to build and create.

Good point about the EV3 vs. NXT. I will need to ask about that! I hope they will be using EV3....

--Rob

[afoldad]

You might go to FIRST's web site at http://www.usfirst.org and http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/startateam. You might also see if there is an FRC team in your school district. FRC is the high school level robotics league. FRC teams usually like to adopt or help incubate FLL and FTC teams. It not only helps further the FIRST goals but often creates a farm system for future team members, and even helps the team if they're interested in pursuing a Chairman's award.

FIRST has grants and other kinds of assistance available for rookie teams and there are often regional STEM alliances that can assist in this area as well. FIRST's web site will have TONS of information that should point you in the right direction.

[hoeij]

Good point about the EV3 vs. NXT. I will need to ask about that! I hope they will be using EV3....

I think that for the top teams (where kids really know how to program), EV3 will be an advantage because you can connect 4 motors instead of 3. But I think that for most teams, NXT will be just fine, and they'll keep on using it for years to come.

My son is in a team, and at the moment all the kids in there are learning (for the first time, as far as I can tell...) to program at a very basic level; at this level it won't make much of a difference if they have 3 or 4 motors. The kids seem to be very happy to learn how to program, they experiment with the program and see what happens. An hour passes and they think they've only been there for 10 minutes, so they really like it there.

I think that from an educational point of view, FLL is as good as it gets, the kids are excited about something that could be of much value to them later on in life.

[Cara]

Thank you very much! All the positive experiences are very encouraging. My child is a 4th grader and since none of us have ever done this we are looking more for the experience than the competing (at least this year ;). I am going to look into the possibility of an FRC team contact. That is a very helpful suggestion. Thank you for all the replies.