What is FLL you ask?
Well, FLL stands for FIRST Lego League (FIRST standing for For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology). FLL is a science and technology competition for youth centred around three main components; robotics, scientific/technological solution to an annually themed problem and core values. At the beginning of the year the theme is released along with a challenge. This year's challenge is Nature's Fury. Teams are to pick a natural disaster and a community and learn more about the impacts of that disaster in the context of Prepare, Stay Safe and Rebuild. After identifying problems their chosen community may face they then brainstorm and fine tune an innovative solution or enhancement and share their solution in a creative way. Alongside this challenge, a robot game is released. Teams are given a large board with a series of missions that must be completed by a robot in 2 minutes time. The team spends the season building and programing a robot built of Lego Mindstorms to complete these missions trying to build a high scoring, stable, fast and reliable robot. All throughout the season the team is learning and displaying great team core values and having a lot of FUN!
Well, FLL stands for FIRST Lego League (FIRST standing for For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology). FLL is a science and technology competition for youth centred around three main components; robotics, scientific/technological solution to an annually themed problem and core values. At the beginning of the year the theme is released along with a challenge. This year's challenge is Nature's Fury. Teams are to pick a natural disaster and a community and learn more about the impacts of that disaster in the context of Prepare, Stay Safe and Rebuild. After identifying problems their chosen community may face they then brainstorm and fine tune an innovative solution or enhancement and share their solution in a creative way. Alongside this challenge, a robot game is released. Teams are given a large board with a series of missions that must be completed by a robot in 2 minutes time. The team spends the season building and programing a robot built of Lego Mindstorms to complete these missions trying to build a high scoring, stable, fast and reliable robot. All throughout the season the team is learning and displaying great team core values and having a lot of FUN!
Can FIRST® LEGO® League teams help us master natural disasters? In the 2013 NATURE’S FURY℠ Challenge, over 200,000 children ages 9 to 16* from over 70 countries will explore the awe-inspiring storms, quakes, waves and more that we call natural disasters. Teams will discover what can be done when intense natural events meet the places people live, work, and play. Brace yourself for NATURE’S FURY!
*9-14 in the US, Canada, and Mexico - See more at: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2013naturesfury#sthash.fp5RBGTQ.dpuf
*9-14 in the US, Canada, and Mexico - See more at: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2013naturesfury#sthash.fp5RBGTQ.dpuf
FLL Core Values
The FLL Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program. They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.
The FLL Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program. They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.
Who are we?
We are the bitFlashers, a team of 8 boys ranging in age from 9-14. We all have our own special interests but really enjoy our time with FLL. Part of our team is very keen in technology and robotics while others are very science focused. We all enjoy the aspects of teams and community. We have been competing for 3 years now and have been increasingly successful. Last year our team won first place for our Presentation at the Vancouver Island tournament and then went on to win a trophy for our core values and presentation at the Provincial tournament in Vancouver, BC. Each year too we help to raise awareness and funds towards the topic of the year. We had bake sales, garage sales and other events to help. Last year being Senior Solutions we focused spreading the word about Seniors in Need. The year prior when the topic was Body Forward our team raised money for War Amps.
What are we working on this year?
We are programming our robot to compete in the FLL Nature's Fury Robot Game at coming tournaments. With focusing on Prepare, Stay Safe and Rebuild, we have come up with a series of innovative solutions and improvements that may help in an event of a MegaThrust Earthquake here in Victoria (currently we are finalizing our UAV lifescan system, an Earthquake alarm, a conversion of any table to an earthquake shelter, fire extinguisher grenades and a game we are calling Seismic Survival).
Tournaments/Competitions
At each tournament/Competition there are 4 components:
Project Presentation: Throughout the year we have been researching Earthquakes in Victoria and have come up with a solution (the Aether System). This solution scans for life and triages life freeing up the very limited rescuers we have to rescue and save as many lives as possible. During the Project Presentation we present to a panel of judges our Solution to a Problem we found. We are judged on our research, innovation, presentation and creativity.
Core Value Interview: All year we have been working together as a team and learning and displaying the core values of FLL. At this interview, we must complete an unknown team activity and are judged on our gracious professionalism, coopertition, respect of team mates and leadership abilities. We also present to the panel of judges about our team and how our team divided the workload and made decisions.
Robot Design interview: At this interview, we present our key aspects of our robot, how we came up with design, how we changed it, programming challenges and fixes, attachments and strategy and any neat aspects of our robot, we then run our robot through some of the programs showing the judges what it can do.
Robot Game: We get 3 gos at the robot game. We have been working on programming our robot to complete a series of missions, now it is the robots turn to show it's stuff. All teams play the same robot game. We set the robot on the table and once start is called we race the clock (2.5 min) to complete as many missions as possible getting points along the way. At the end it is the highest round that is counted.
There are awards for winners of each category and then overall winners. For the overall winners each section counts as 25% and the overall score is added up. To be an overall winner though all categories MUST be within the top 40% of scores as FLL is about all components.
We are the bitFlashers, a team of 8 boys ranging in age from 9-14. We all have our own special interests but really enjoy our time with FLL. Part of our team is very keen in technology and robotics while others are very science focused. We all enjoy the aspects of teams and community. We have been competing for 3 years now and have been increasingly successful. Last year our team won first place for our Presentation at the Vancouver Island tournament and then went on to win a trophy for our core values and presentation at the Provincial tournament in Vancouver, BC. Each year too we help to raise awareness and funds towards the topic of the year. We had bake sales, garage sales and other events to help. Last year being Senior Solutions we focused spreading the word about Seniors in Need. The year prior when the topic was Body Forward our team raised money for War Amps.
What are we working on this year?
We are programming our robot to compete in the FLL Nature's Fury Robot Game at coming tournaments. With focusing on Prepare, Stay Safe and Rebuild, we have come up with a series of innovative solutions and improvements that may help in an event of a MegaThrust Earthquake here in Victoria (currently we are finalizing our UAV lifescan system, an Earthquake alarm, a conversion of any table to an earthquake shelter, fire extinguisher grenades and a game we are calling Seismic Survival).
Tournaments/Competitions
At each tournament/Competition there are 4 components:
Project Presentation: Throughout the year we have been researching Earthquakes in Victoria and have come up with a solution (the Aether System). This solution scans for life and triages life freeing up the very limited rescuers we have to rescue and save as many lives as possible. During the Project Presentation we present to a panel of judges our Solution to a Problem we found. We are judged on our research, innovation, presentation and creativity.
Core Value Interview: All year we have been working together as a team and learning and displaying the core values of FLL. At this interview, we must complete an unknown team activity and are judged on our gracious professionalism, coopertition, respect of team mates and leadership abilities. We also present to the panel of judges about our team and how our team divided the workload and made decisions.
Robot Design interview: At this interview, we present our key aspects of our robot, how we came up with design, how we changed it, programming challenges and fixes, attachments and strategy and any neat aspects of our robot, we then run our robot through some of the programs showing the judges what it can do.
Robot Game: We get 3 gos at the robot game. We have been working on programming our robot to complete a series of missions, now it is the robots turn to show it's stuff. All teams play the same robot game. We set the robot on the table and once start is called we race the clock (2.5 min) to complete as many missions as possible getting points along the way. At the end it is the highest round that is counted.
There are awards for winners of each category and then overall winners. For the overall winners each section counts as 25% and the overall score is added up. To be an overall winner though all categories MUST be within the top 40% of scores as FLL is about all components.
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Project Challenge Explained:
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Luke Rodrigues ~ Lifestyle Markets ~ Peter Hoemberg ~ Therma Boat Ltd.
Luke Rodrigues ~ Lifestyle Markets ~ Peter Hoemberg ~ Therma Boat Ltd.