The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies were given a special invitation to attend the FIRST Lego League World Festival competition, held in Atlanta, GA on April 17 & 18. They competed against 81 other teams, from over 20 countries. It was a truly amazing experience for all the team members. The team was able to attend through the generous donations given by family, friends, and the wonderful Village Home community. Thank you!
(The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies)
The competition was very intense. Fifteen teams achieved perfect scores on the competition table. The technical judging was the most rigorous the team has ever experienced. Through it all, the Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies percevered. They got their best score on the competition table that they have ever received, and impressed the judges with their innovative robotic designs. In the end, they were honored with a 2nd Place Robot Design Programming award. The team is still in high spirits from their experience, and is already working on designs for the next competition coming in December.
The teams for the next season of robotic challenge from FIRST Lego League are: "Um..." and the "Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies". Team Um has many members from last year's A.E.R.O. Cows. They've added four new members, and are actively working on robotic designs to astound the judges. The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies have grown in size this year with the addition of two new team members. They are currently working on improving their robotic design, as well as the programming code. Look for great things from each team this year as they tackle climate change in this year's theme: Climate Connections.
Lego Robotics is more than playing with Legos, it is an opportunity
to learn! We learn and grow as we explore science and technology. From
programing and building a Lego robot, to exploring Mars and the oceans,
we learn that kids can make an impact on the world in which we live
today, and tomorrow.
About the Competition
We run our robots in competitions. In all, there are almost 400 teams that have registered with ORTOP. With so many team that register, there has to be multiple competitions with an average of twenty teams competing per competition. The competition is made of four parts. There is Technical and Presentation Judging, Teamwork, and the famous Table Run!
The Table Run consists of a Lego robot on a mat of difficult missions. We have 2 1/2 minutes to complete these missions, which is not a lot of time. Each mission has a different point value to go along with it. The maximum total score is 400 points. It is a challenge to get all of the points in the two and a half minute time limit.
The Technical and Presentation Judging are both quite similar. They
both take ten minutes. Also, they both require the teams to speak and
answer the questions of four judges.
The Technical Judging is connected with the Table Run. Judges ask you
about the programing and the design of your Lego Robot. Although ten
minutes sounds like a long time, it goes by very quickly.
The Presentation Judging requires the teams to research a topic and
present it to a panel of judges. The first five minutes of the judging
is spent by the team members sharing their ideas with the judges. The
last five minutes of the ten is spent by the judges asking questions
to the team members regarding the presentation.
Last and not least, is the team work category. Teams are graded on
how well they work together and with other teams. The presentation and
technical judges weave teamwork question to the team members.
All four categories are weighted evenly.
At the end of the day is the award ceremony. The teams are given an
award based on how well they did in each category. The top four winners
of each competition get to go to the state competition, which was held
on January 13th. Seventy-nine teams get to go to the state competition.
It is much harder because it is the best of the best. The lay out is
like the district competition.
The one winner of that competition gets to go to the national competition
that is held in Atlanta, Georgia. In order to be prepared for the different
competitions, we follow a yearly schedule. From the end of March to
early summer, we build and decide on the robot that we will use for
the competition. Then, in the summer, when the rules and mat come out,
we start to build attachments for the robot. During the entire year,
we are researching and creating a presentation. In the fall and winter,
we practice our presentation and robot runs.
FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST is a non-profit, world wide program to encourage kids to get excited about learning math and science. "To create a world where science and technology are celebrated... where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes" Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST.
There are many parts to FIRST. There is a High school level of FIRST where the participants build robots using metal and make the robots by melting and molding it to shape their robot.
To learn more about FLL, go to http://www.firstlegoleague.org/
To learn more about FIRST, go to http://www.usfirst.org/
ORTOP stands for Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program. They are the hosts of the Robotics Tournaments that are held in Oregon. ORTOP uses the FLL program to get kids learning about math and science in a fun way. ORTOP is a program of the Oregon University System, yet it is almost entirely run by volunteers.
To learn how to become a volunteer, go to http://www.ortop.org/vol.htm#ts.
To learn more about ORTOP, go to http://www.ortop.org/
| No Limits/Ocean Odyssey |
| Nanoquest |
| A.E.R.O. Cows |
| Quantum Quarks |