FIRST LEGO League

On this page we keep links and references to various North Texas FIRST LEGO League competition resources, to make them easy for us and others to locate quickly later.  Where possible we try to link directly to official pages and notifications; but we’re definitely not the official source for any of this.  If in doubt — double check the official sources!

Feel free to suggest additional links or resources that should appear here, or to let us know of errors or things that shouldn’t be here.

Join the NorthTexasFLL Google Group to network with other coaches and mentors!

Upcoming FLL Events

Resources

Here is a resource list for teams starting out with FIRST LEGO League.

Where do I start?

If you’re a new coach or team and you’re wondering where to start, here are some suggestions:

  1. Join the NorthTexasFLL Google Group.  This is a mailing list for coaches and organizers of FLL events in North Texas; people are encouraged to ask questions here.
  2. Attend a kickoff event and the coaches clinics offered throughout the season.  You’ll learn lots of useful tips from veteran coaches who are eager to help you get started!
  3. A good early team activity is to build the mission models for this season’s game.  This can help the team get used to working together, and they can study the mechanisms used to make the models work.
  4. You and your team definitely want to study the Challenge document to understand the competition rules and requirements.  If you have any questions, ask them at a clinic or ask on the NorthTexasFLL group.
  5. If your team is at a loss for getting started with building a robot, the “SPIKE Prime driving base” is a good place to start. For EV-3, the “Educator Vehicle with attachments” is a reasonable place to start and get some ideas.  If you hsve an NXT set instead of EV3, Jay Jordan recommends the 3-motor chassis from nxtprograms.com .
  6. Once you have a robot, see if the team can get it to solve a couple of (easy) missions.  There are almost always one or two missions that involve pushing something very close to Launch Area.
  7. Begin brainstorming Project topics and identifying resources and experts.  Be sure to keep track of your research and contacts!

Previous 2019 (“City Shaper”) FLL Events

Oct 14 - Oct 18, 2019: FLL 2019 Qualifier Registration opens
Nov 2, 2019 (8:00a-12:00p): Scrimmage at HSA Carrollton

Previous 2018 (“Into Orbit”) FLL Events

Oct 24, 2018 (10:00a): FLL 2018 Qualifier Registration opens

Previous 2017 (“Hydro-Dynamics”) FLL Events

Oct 14, 2017 (9:00a-4:00p): FCA FLL Programming Clinic, Dallas
Oct 14, 2017 (10:00a-5:00p): Ft Worth FLL Programming Clinic, Benbrook
Oct 21, 2017 (9:00a-4:00p): UTD Clinics – FLL Programming, Richardson
Oct 23, 2017 (10:00a): Qualifier Registration Opens
Apr 7, 2018 (8:30a-3:30p): Robotics in the Classroom, Dallas
May 19, 2018 (9:30a-5:00p): Robot Rumble 2, Weatherford
May 20, 2018 (2:30p-4:30p): FLYSET 4th Annual Youth Robotics Fair, Plano

Previous 2016 (“Animal Allies”) FLL Events

Oct 15, 2016 (9:00a-4:00p): UTD Clinics – FLL Programming, Richardson
May 6, 2017 (10:00a-2:00p): Plastic Fastener Sumo Workshop, Carrollton
May 13, 2017 (10:00a-4:00p): DPRG 22nd Roborama Competition, Carrollton

Previous FLL events

Aug 25, 2015 (11:00a): FLL 2015 Trash Trek Challenge Release
Nov 18, 2015 (5:00p): Qualifier Registration closes

FLL 2015 Scrimmage at Fellowship Christian Academy (FCA)

2015-11-07 @ 12:00pm - 5:00pm, Fellowship Christian Academy

As of 2015-10-05 @ 10:17am, all of the available spaces for this event have been filled.

Fellowship Christian Academy (FCA) will be hosting an FLL TRASH TREK Robot Games scrimmage on Saturday, November 7th. A maximum of 20 teams will be allowed to participate in the scrimmage. Sign-up for the scrimmage is first-come, first served. Sign-up can be done on the FCA Robotics and Engineering website, www.fcarobotics.com . The schedule for the scrimmage is as follows:
12:00pm – 5:00pm

12:00pm-12:30pm Check-in
12:30pm-4:15pm Robot Games
4:15pm-5:00pm Wrap-up and Pit Area Cleanup

Non-participating teams and other spectators are welcome to come and watch as well.

This is an unofficial FLL event hosted by Fellowship Christian Academy and is not sponsored by the Perot Museum or other FLL partners.

FCA Robotics and Engineering Club
info@fcarobotics.com
www.fcarobotics.com

UME Coaches’ Clinic – FLL Programming with Patrick Michaud

2015-10-24 @ 9:00am - 4:00pm, UME Preparatory Academy

Coaches/Mentors and a student programmer are invited to this clinic on FLL® programming with the Mindstorms® software. This is a full day clinic presented in two parts, a beginning session (9am-noon) and an advanced session (1p-4p). Bringing your laptop and robot with the EV3 software installed is recommended.

See the FLL Programming Clinic page for registration and further details.

Lunch

For those who are attending both the morning (Beginning) and afternoon (Advanced) programming sessions at UME, the UME FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team #8626 “The Prototypes” will have a cash concession stand with snacks and drinks in addition to offering pizza for lunch that can be preordered onsite Saturday morning.

The menu includes:

Pizza (Cheese or Pepperoni): $1.50/slice
Pizza Combo (2 slices/1 bag chips/1 drink): $3.75 each
Whole Pizza (Cheese or Pepperoni):  TBD
Soda / Water: 50¢ each
Chips: 50¢ per bag

 

UME Coaches’ Clinic – Chassis Building and Attachments

2015-10-10 @ 9:00am - 12:00pm, UME Preparatory Academy

Slides from clinic: Chassis Design, Sensor and Attachments part 1, Sensor and Attachments part 2

This clinic is a demonstration of basic chassis and attachment building with LEGO® Mindstorms.  Each coach can bring up to two team members.

Please confirm attendance and number of students attending by sending email to James Brodnick (james.brodnick@gmail.com).

 

FLL 2015 Kickoff / Team Dynamics Clinic (UTD)

2015-09-26 @ 9:00am - 12:00pm, University of Texas at Dallas / SEEC

Slides from Team Dynamics Clinic

We are having a Kickoff and Team Dynamics clinic on Saturday, September 26, at UT-Dallas from 9:00-12:00. See this map for parking and the location of the event.  The kickoff will be held in the SLC building (marked in blue) in room SLC 1.102. You may park in the green spaces of either lot H (west of SLC) or in the parking garage marked PS3 (north of SLC).  For people wanting to park in PS3 it’s recommended to get there via Synergy Park Blvd on the north side of campus and drive south onto Rutford Ave.

Please let Kristi Cantu (Kristine.Cantu@perotmuseum.org) know if you plan on attending so she can keep track of attendance numbers. This event is free and is for coaches and mentors only.