FIRST LEGO League

The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) program is an excellent way for young people to experience the excitement of technical creativity and gain insights in the possibility of a a technical careers. Participating on an FLL team is a fun way to learn about mechanical design and computer programming as well as teamwork and other life skills. No previous technical or programming experience is required to join a team. The robots are programmed using a "flow chart" rather than a traditional programming language. Coaches often have the help of a technical mentor to teach the team members how to build and program a robot.

In FIRST LEGO League 9- to 14-year-old youngsters learn to design and build autonomous robots using special LEGO kits. The program includes a 10- to 12-week period in which youngsters form teams, develop robots that can respond to individual tasks as part of an overall Challenge, then compete at one of the many tournaments we hold in Oregon and SW Washington. Through this process, youngsters experience the fun and excitement of solving problems in a positive and supportive team environment.

Are you new to FIRST LEGO League and LEGO robotics? Each year there are many new coaches, mentors, judges, and referees that get involved for with our program. Focusing on coaching a team for a moment, you should know

• Coaches aren't expected to be technical experts. They focus on organizing the team. The team members are responsible for building the robot, etc.
• We have a special award category at our many qualifying tournaments that is restricted to brand new teams.
• The annual challenge and research project is organized so brand new teams can learn as much or more as an experience team and have a lot of fun doing it. For instance the annual challenge is organized into a set of missions, some much easier than others. A new team should choose two or three simple missions and focus on building a robot to achieve them.
• We offer free workshops for prospective new coaches.
• Teams can be affiliated with schools, scouts, neighborhoods, churches, etc. All that's required is that at least one adult take responsibility for organizing the team and getting it registered.
• If you want to organize a team that is affiliated with your child's school, consider asking your child's teacher for permission to use a classroom for an information meeting of children and adults and ask your child's classmates to take home invitations to their parents. You may want to use the 2007 ORTOP flyer to help get the word out.
• We provide answers to your questions and concerns by email and telephone.
• It's all about learning and fun!

For the 2008 season the theme is Climate Connections

 

Junior FIRST LEGO League

The national Junior FIRST LEGO League Program is an engineering challenge program geared toward children ages 6 to 9, who are too young to participate in the First Lego League Robotics Competition. This is an excellent way to introduce children to the concepts of design building and teamwork, as well as build excitement about science and engineering. Teams of up to 6 children and an adult mentor receive a mini challenge, which is based upon the same theme as the FLL challenge for that year. Click here for more information about ORTOP's JFLL program.

 

FIRST Tech Challenge

The national FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program is a mid-level robotics competition being developed to provide an opportunity for high-school students, who are too old to qualify for FLL, to participate in a similar program. Like FLL, FTC is an excellent way to experience the power, excitement, and fun of science, technology, engineering, and math and gain insights in the possibility of a technical career. Team members will be involved in the design, implementation, and programming of a robot to participate in a well defined challenge in competition and cooperation with robots from other teams. Click here for more information about ORTOP's FTC program .

ORTOP Mission Statement

To open doors to the worlds of science and technology for Oregon’s youth, by delivering the FIRST programs to 6- to 18-year-old youngsters, with a focus on reaching those who might not otherwise participate because of their race, gender, or socio-economic status.

ORTOP

To accomplish its mission, ORTOP uses a 3 programs developed and distributed by the FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) an internationally recognized educational foundation. These three programs are FIRST LEGO League, Junior FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge.

ORTOP is a program of the Oregon University System but is almost entirely volunteer driven. The ORTOP Planning Committee is made up of volunteers from the programs sponsors and partners and well as private individuals. Over 700 adult volunteers will organize and coach teams this year, while close to 700 additional volunteers will plan and stage 21 preliminary tournaments around the state and the state finals tournament. These volunteers come from many sources, including sponsors and community partners.

FIRST

A non-profit organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) organizes an annual network of robotics tournaments under the names FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), FIRST Vex Challenge (FVC), FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and Junior FIRST LEGO League(JFLL). FIRST focuses on promoting science and technology to young people. They have formed a network of robotics tournaments that use 3 uniue types of robotics kits. Over the last several years, similar robotics tournaments held in other states and countires have proven to be extremely valuable in inspiring young people's interest in science and technology and preparing them to enter tomorrow's workforce. The teams allow the children to serve in a variety of roles:

• Designers
• Builders
• Programmers
• Documentor
• Spirit/Activities Coordinator
• Team Leader

Rather than being a "winner takes all" competition, the tournament provides an exciting opportunity for teams to learn from each other and share their excitement. All team members go home with a medallion. In addition, trophies are awarded in many catagories.

FLL Teams

The FLL policy on the age of team members is nine to fourteen years old.

To participate in the 2007 season, a team member must be younger than fifteen on January 1, 2007. This means that students who turn fifteen in 2007 can participate in the 2007 season. Put another way, those born after January 1, 1992 may participate. Parents of children who were younger than nine on January 1, 2007 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. For students in 1st - 3rd grade, Junior FIRST LEGO League is a great and age appropriate alternative to FIRST LEGO League.

The adult coach for each team should register the team at the FIRST LEGO League web site. The registration fee is $200, 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 coaches handbook 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 through ORTOP 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 o nSeptember 5, 2007. National team registration runs from May through the end of September, or until all registration slots are filled. This has happened in late September. In early October, teams can register for local, qualifying and state tournaments. In Oregon teams will register for Oregon Qualifying Tournaments. Winners from the Qualifying Tournaments will advance to the Intel Oregon FLL 2007 Championship Tournament. The Oregon local/state tournament registration fee will be $50.

Teams will have about two months to prepare their robot for a qualifying tournament. Qualifyingl Tournaments are held during the second and third weekends of December.

Challenge

CLIMATE CONNECTIONS

Building A Global Game Plan The "winds of change are blowing" and with them comes FIRST LEGO League's 2008 Climate Connections Challenge! Join us as we explore why many experts believe the earth's climate is changing and how these changes impact you and our planet. The causes, contributions, and consequences are all interconnected and the experts are telling us to "think globally - act locally." People, resources, and local actions need to be united to establish a global game plan. Do FIRST LEGO League teams have what it takes to make these global Climate Connections?

Details will be announced on September ?, 2008 on the FIRST LEGO League web site.

Tournaments

Qualifying Tournaments in December

ORTOP plans to host Qualifying Tournaments throughout Oregon and SW Washington in December 2008. 10 to 25 teams will participate at each Qualifying Tournament. The schedule of these tournaments and registration will occur in early October. To register for an ORTOP Qualifying Tournament teams must first register with FIRST LEGO League (FLL). FLL registration opens in May 2008.

ORTOP will accept on application per team officially registered with FIRST LEGO League to participate in one of our 20 qualifying tournaments.

In 2007 FLL Qualifying Tournaments were held in Portland, Hillsboro, Vancouver, Wilsonville, Oregon City, Corvallis, Roseburg, Klamath Falls, Bend and LaGrande.

Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League 2007 Tournament Teams (by County & Team City)

Intel Oregon 2008 FLL Championship Tournaments in January

ORTOP plans to hold TWO Championship tournaments for the 2008 Season in January 2009. To be invited to this tournament a team must first participate in an ORTOP Qualifying Tournament and place at the top of one of the overall tournament categories.

The Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League 2008 Championship Tournaments will be held in January 2009 most likely at Liberty High School, Hillsboro. Liberty High School in Hillsboro has been the site of the Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League State Tournament for four years.

Intel Oregon 2007 FIRST LEGO League Championship Teams