Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program

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Students The FIRST LEGO League is all about fun and challenge. Students from nine to fourteen years old join robotics teams. Each team has 4 to 10 members. Team members can be Designers Builders Programmers Documentor Team Leader Starting in late September, each team will have until the end of November to design their robot to solve this year's challenge. Be sure and check out the League web site. Teams The FLL policy on the age of team members is nine to fourteen years old. To participate in the 2005 season, a team member must be younger than fifteen at the beginning of the year. This means that students who turn fifteen in 2005 can participate in the 2005 season. Put another way, those born after Dec. 31, 1989 may participate. Parents of children who were younger than nine on January 1, 2005 should ask the team's coach if the child can participate on the team. Coaches are encouraged to consider younger team members but the final decision is theirs. We will have many trophy categories including one reserved for teams made up of students eleven years old or younger. The adult coach for each team should register the team at the FIRST LEGO League web site. The registration fee is $150, which stays with FIRST -- the national non-profit organization that organizes tournaments all over the country and internationally. Once the team has registered and paid the registration fee, it will receive a team manual that includes basic info on team building, rolls, funding raising hints, brainstorming techniques, etc. The team registration fee includes one team membership (up to 10 children) to the FLL International program; access to the FLL on-line web community and the FLL International forum; 1 FLL Team Manual; coach and team resource tools; and customer, technical, and engineering support from FIRST Headquarters. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization. The team registration fee contributes to the growth and sustainability of the FLL program and supports ongoing program developments. Teams can also purchase the kits they will need at the same time they register. Scholarships are available for teams that cannot otherwise afford to participate in the tournament. Each year the robot challenge involves multiple missions arranged on a 4 foot by 8 foot mat where mission elements in a standard way. Each team will design a robot that will solve as many parts of the mission as possible. The details will be announced in mid September. National team registration runs from May through the end of September. In early October, teams can register for regional and state tournaments including the Oregon tournaments. The tournament registration fee will be about $35. Teams will have about two months to prepare their robot for a local tournament. Coaches Each team will need at least one adult to serve as a coach. Some teams will also have a co-coach, assistant coach, or a mentor. These adults are encouraged to register for a no-charge no-obligation workshop. The team's coach is responsible for registering the team. Additional information is available on the roles of coaches and mentors.

Parents The FIRST LEGO League will give your children the opportunity to engage in "Sports of the Mind." It will introduce them to basic concepts of engineering and computer programming. Teams of four to ten children, ages nine to fourteen, will create robots that perform a series of tasks that solve a challenge. The teams will learn robotics and design their solution during September, October, and November and come together for tournaments in December and January. Frequently Asked Questions Click here for a list of frequently asked questions and their answers. Click here for a printable version of the frequently asked questions and their answers. Next Steps To build the robot, a team needs a LEGO robotics kit and access to a standard PC or Macintosh. Each team has an adult coach, who organizes the team and registers it with FIRST LEGO League. Many teams will also have a technical mentor to assist with programming and technical questions. The children themselves, however, design and program the robot to solve the challenge. In September, FIRST LEGO League will issue the challenge that describes the tasks every team's robot will need to perform. The challenge in 2000 included designing a robot to rescue a scientist trapped on a model volcano and to erect barriers around a nearby village. In 2001 the challenge involved rescuing a simulated arctic research station. The teams have practice sessions one or more times a week, to learn about robotics and prepare their solution. Every team demonstrates its robot at the tournament. Awards are given in twelve different categories and all team members receive a medallion. The total cost for each team, including kits and registration but excluding transportation to the tournament is about $700. These costs of participation can handled in several ways: by charging each team member team dues, by holding fund raisers, by arranging for team sponsors, or by applying for a scholarship from the Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program. Team Formation If you want to check to see if there's an existing team near you, take a look at the list of Oregon teams as of 10/6/03. If you see a team you'd like to contact, send a message to us at ortop@ous.edu indicating the team and we'll get back to you. In your message, please indicate where you live and the ages of the children you'd like to get involved. Brochure We have developed a flyer that describes our program. You can download and print this Acrobat file.