FLL Introduction for Coaches Hydro Dynamics June 2017 · • Expectation • Tips 6/5/2017 ... Inspire youth to appreciate science & technology in a sport setting ... (World Fest,

FLL Introduction

for Coaches

Hydro Dynamics

June 2017

Tony Ayad

Outline

FIRST LEGO League

• History of FIRST

• Teams & Requirements

• The Annual Challenge

• Competition and Judging

• Progression

• Season Calendar

• Expectation

• Tips

FLL Introduction for Coaches - Tony Ayad 2 6/5/2017

Dean Kamen – FIRST founder

• Inventor, Entrepreneur, engineer and tireless advocate for science and technology

• Holds 440 patents for many advanced medical devices

• In his various companies, he struggled to find qualified engineers and scientists for his company.


The Problem

• Insufficient number of students selecting Science as a major / career • Sports/Pop Culture leads students idolize sports figures and pop stars • Probability to enter professional sports .03%

• Most career options now involve some level of technology

• Technology is moving so fast, kids need to get involved at a younger age

• Most companies cannot find enough engineers and Scientists


For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

Inspire youth to appreciate science & technology in a sport setting and expose them to options in the Field of Science & Technology

with 100% chance of becoming pros if they choose.

Solution: FIRST

®

6/5/2017 FLL Introduction for Coaches - Tony Ayad 5

6-10 years old

Science Project

“show and tell”

$600 per season

9-14 years old

up to 10 kids per team

Lego Robot

Robotics Game

Research Project

$1k – $1.5 k per season

12-18 years old

Up to 15 kids per team

Tetrix robot

Robotics Game

Outreach emphasis

Engineering focus

$4k - $6k per season

14-18 years old

No team size limit

Machined Robot

Robotics Game

Outreach / fund raising

Project Management

$20k - $30k per season

2004 1998 2006 1992

• Create innovative solutions to challenges facing today’s scientists

• Empower students to make a difference in their community

• Design, build, and program an autonomous robot to solve missions that are related to the challenge

• It is more than robots…


First Lego League (FLL) – Ages 9-14

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2016 Challenge – Hydro Dynamics℠

• On your mark, get set, flow! Drink in the 2017 HYDRO DYNAMICS season and learn all about water – how we find, transport, use, or dispose of it.

Where to look?

– What is the source of our water?

– Who is the provider of water for your community / homes?

– How do we use water at home? Are there businesses that depend on water?

– How do we dispose of water? Are there better ways?

Places: Water company in your city, reclamation centers, Dept of Water Resources, …


The Robot Game

• Design and build a robot to solve as many Hydro Dynamics

missions


FLL Core Values

• We are a team.

• We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors – Kids do the work

• We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.

– You don’t need to be engineer to be a great coach

• We honor the spirit of friendly competition. – This is not Battlebots

• What we discover is more important than what we win. – It is about the journey and experience; trophies are icing on the cake!

• We share our experiences with others.

– Reinforce what they learned, improve presentation skills, especially to adults

• We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.

– Work like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness.

• We have FUN!


Team Requirements

• Team Size (Up to 10)

– Ideal size is 5-7 kids with two coaches and one robot set

– Larger teams may need additional mentors and robot sets

• Where to meet

– Safe area large enough for the number of kids on the team

• Classroom, garage, large living room or family room

– Field table (4'X8') and a computer

• Laptop computer preferred, so you can take it to events

• Internet access for research

– Storage space for the field setup kit, and robot (between

meetings)

• Snacks: Have parents bring snacks to get/keep them involved


http://www.firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/FLL-Table-Build.pdf

Team Leadership Roles

• Two coaches

– Must be adults

– Organize meetings and ensures the team is making progress

– Serves as a good role model and instills team spirit and FIRST

Core Values

– You don’t have to be an engineer to be a great FLL coach

• Mentor (optional)

– Technical person to explain engineering and programming

concepts


Budget

• Required:

– Registration with FIRST: $225

– Field Setup Kit: ~$90

– Robot kit (needed by 1st year teams): $400

– FLL Table: $60

– Qualifying Tournament: $100

– Supplies: $125

• Optional

– Practice Tournament ~$60

– Championship Tournament $150

– T-Shirts $200

• Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles is the fiscal agent and they

handle the finances of the region.

FLL Introduction for Coaches - Tony Ayad 12

Total: $1,000 or

$100 - $170 per kid

Sport Cost per

kid

Baseball $480

Basketball $700

Soccer $800

Ice Skating $2,500

6/5/2017

Tournaments

• Practice Tournament (late Oct - early Nov)

– Unofficial and OPTIONAL

– Teams Can participate in more than one

• Qualifying Tournaments (Nov 4,5,11,12,18,19,25)

– Teams participate in one tournament only

– Top 20-25% of teams from each tournament will

advance to the Championship Tournament (Dec 9 or 10)

• Championship Tournament

– For teams that advanced from Qualifying Tournaments

– The Champion Team will advance to National /

International tournament (April – May, 2017)


Advancement Process


Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Wish Charter

QT

La Canada

QT

Science Cube

QT

Dec 9 LA

Championship

(32 teams)

Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team49

Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team1 Team78

Team1 Team12

Team1 Team55

Team1 Team83

Dec 10 LA

Championship

(32 teams)

Team55

Team83

Nationals

15 Qualifying Tournaments

400 Teams

24-32 teams in each

Top 20% of teams advance

2 Championship Tournaments

Each with 32 teams

2 teams will advance

(World Championship

or N.A. Open)

What happens on Tournament Day

• Teams will arrive around 7:00 am

• Each team will be interviewed by 1 set of judges

– Project – 5 minute presentation Q&A

– Robot Design – 3 minutes presentation

– Core Values – 2 min presentation

– 10 minutes Q&A

– Feedback is given on the rubric, but ranking is not disclosed

• Each team will compete in 3 official robot rounds – A match is 2 1/2 minutes

– Best score is used to determine ranking

– The only objective component

• Misbehavior of teams members, Coaches or parents will disqualify teams from earning any awards INCLUDING ROBOT Performance!

– Gracious Professionalism

– Kids do the work, make presentations, and only ones allowed to discuss issues with referees and judges.


Competition and Judging Elements

Core Values

Project Robot

• Quality of Research

• Innovative Solution

• Presentation

• Mechanical Design

• Programming

• Innovative Strategy

• Inspiration

• Teamwork

• Gracious Professionalism


33.3% 33.3%

33.3%

6/5/2017

Project


Robot Design


Core Values (How the team works on the Challenge)


Awards

• Robot Performance Award: highest robot performance scores

• Judged Awards (only one per team):

• Champion’s Award: best overall team in all areas

• Robot Design Award (1st and 2nd place)

• Project Award (1st and 2nd place)

• Core Values Award (1st and 2nd place)

• Advancements from Qualifying Tournaments is based on overall performance.

• Teams are ranked in each category

• Teams MUST be in the top 40% rank in Robot Performance to advance or earn the

Champion Award. For example, in a tournament with 24 teams, the top 10 robot

performance scores meets the threshold.


FLL Season Calendar

• August (after the challenge set arrives)

– Build the mission models

– Review the FLL Coaches’ Handbook

• Early September (after the Challenge is released)

– Attend a Challenge Release Workshop:

• http://www.la-fll.org/training-and-workshops.html

– Read the research project requirements carefully

– Brainstorm research area and pick 2 or 3 ideas; identify experts

– Read the game rules, mission descriptions, and field setup rules

CAREFULLY; make sure everyone understands!

– Get help to clarify understanding

http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=24

– Develop game strategy by brainstorming; plan and "act" the missions


Late August

(Build Models)

September

(Begin Challenge)

Early October

(Event Registration)

Late Oct - Early Nov

(Local Events)

Mid Nov - Early Dec

(Qualifiers)

Mid Dec

(Regional Champ)

April-May

(World Fest, Open Champ)

6/5/2017

http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/fll/coaches-handbook

http://www.la-fll.org/training-and-workshops.html







http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=24

FLL Season Calendar

• September – October

– Choose team T-shirts (optional) to wear to events

– Complete the research, develop solution, select presentation style

• Early October

– Sign up for a Practice Event (optional, but highly recommended)

– Finalize project solution and begin presentation

• Late October – Early November

– Participate in Practice Event

– Programming should be finished

– Practice running the robot

• November

– Get ready for QT by refining project presentation, sharing what you

learned


Late August

(Build Models)

September

(Begin Challenge)

Early October

(Event Registration)

Late Oct - Early Nov (Practice Events)

Mid Nov - Early Dec

(Qualifiers)

Mid Dec

(Regional Champ)

April-May

(World Fest, Open Champ)

6/5/2017

Expectations

• It takes a lot of time to complete the research project, to design, build and

program the robot, and to practice for the competition

“Work expands so as to fill the time for its completion” – Parkinson

• Rookie teams should plan on meeting at least 2-4 hours per week • Work on the project as homework at least 1 hour per week

• Discuss with parents to ensure they understand the commitment

• One or two kids may drop out, so have a backup plan

• Divide and conquer

• Sub teams to Program difference missions

• Everyone needs to do their share of the research project


Running Team Meetings

• Work with team members and parents to come up with rules for your team at

the first meeting, e.g., how many absences are allowed

• Review team calendar with team and parents

• Have the kids set goals for each meeting (5-10 minutes)

• Help create sub teams to organize the work

• Allow the kids to select assignments

• Review progress at the end of each meeting

• Assign tasks to be done between meetings

• Project tasks (research and presentation) are good candidates

• Creating parts of the poster boards

• Challenge the team and ask probing questions to guide the kids to their own

answers instead of telling them your ideas


Tips – Core Values

• Understand the team’s personality types and how team members can

complement each other

• Do a team building activity at meetings – Expect to do one at the tournament

• Encourage team members to learn the Core Values

– Post them in your meeting room

– Highlight good or unacceptable behavior at meeting

• Discuss Core Values often

• Have everyone learn Gracious Professionalism and how they apply it

outside of FLL

• Learn the difference between Gracious Professionalism & Coopertition


Tips – Project

• Read the description and rubrics carefully as a group and perform preliminary

research to pick a specific project topic

• Check for changes to Updates/FAQ

• Meet with experts as soon as possible to understand the issues and areas

where the team may decide to focus / select a specific problem area

• Since the topic this year is about animals, the experts will be in the zoo,

Humane Society, Sea World, Petco, ...

• Some project tasks can be done outside the team meetings

• Save meeting time for shared understanding and brainstorming ideas

• Ensure that each team member is assigned a share of the work

• All kids need to participate in the research, creation of props, charts,

models, etc.


Tips – Project

• Plan on completing the research/solution within 6 weeks

• Allow at least 2 weeks for preparing the presentation and practice

• Pick a presentation style that is suitable for the team while entertaining for

the judges

• Skits are more entertaining than a power point presentation

• Videos may not work during the presentation

• Setup time is part of the 5 minutes!

• Since noise can be a problem for some venues, make sure all of the major

presentation points are presented visually as well as spoken

• Give the judges a printed summary of your solution

• Keep the setup simple, because setup time counts as part of your

presentation (5 minute)

• Judges can see a laptop screen as well as a projection screen


Tips – Robot Game Preparation

Objective: tournament match score is what you achieved at home

• Study the Missions, Field Setup, Rules, Rubrics and Updates carefully as a

team

• Review them every 2-3 weeks

• If in doubt, check the Forum and submit questions to get answers

• Check for revised Robot Game Updates weekly

• Updates sometimes change the rules significantly!

• Check the placement of the mat and missions on the field table per the Rules

and Field Setup before practice or programming

• Make sure the battery is fully charged before each meeting

• Remember the KISS rule: Keep it simple, silly!

• There is limited time available to design, build and program the robot

• Consider different wall heights (2.5” or 3.5”) and table sizes


Tips – Robot Design Expectations

The robot will not move straight

However,

You can achieve high score with an imperfect robot by developing strategy and programs to accommodate the limitation of the robot


Robot Design – Center of Gravity

• All objects behave as though their mass is concentrated

at a point called their center of gravity; and any object

will balance perfectly on its center of gravity.

• If the robot is heavy in the front OR back it will surely do

wheelies either at the start or tip when stopping and will cause

the robot to veer.

30 FLL Introduction for Coaches - Tony Ayad 6/5/2017

Robot Design - Height

• The lower the center of gravity, the less likely the robot will do

wheelies or tip.

• Trade off: Speed vs. Accuracy and consistency


Robot Design – Tire Attachment

• When attaching the wheel to the motor, it needs to be as close as possible

– Axels are made of plastic and will bend and make the wheel wobbly

• Tires may not have the exact same height, due to wear and tear, manufacturing or unbalanced weight


Weight will put

pressure on the

axel causing it to

bend

Mechanical Design - Balance

• Unbalanced robot causes more weight on one side resulting in more pressure on one tire and “reducing” its circumference


Mechanical Design - Track

• Wider track (distance between tires) will provide more stability and increase the chance of the robot moving straight

• Tradeoff: might be too wide to fit in certain gaps on field.


Track Track

Mechanical Design - Tires

• Tires are not attached to rim perfectly


Mechanical Design – Traction vs. Slipping

• Wider tires will “grip” the mat better to minimize slipping and increase the likelihood that the robot will move straight.

• Whatever your choice, it is a tradeoff and any choice can work


Better traction, large, Fast, but heavy and too wide w/ high center of gravity

large, fast, light, poor traction and high center of gravity

Narrow, short, but slow wide, short, but slow

poor traction, curved

92912 55978 55976 56898 2902

Robot Design – Remediation

• There isn’t a perfect Lego robot; the choices of width, height, and tires involve tradeoffs

• Each season, the FLL mat deliberately includes lines that can be used as guides. Use COLOR sensors to detect, follow or align with those lines to compensate for mechanical imperfections

• Hug the wall by adding side mounted wheels and drive the robot with slightly less power on the motor next to the wall

• Re-orient the robot by backing up against stationary objects (border or models)

• This Video shows all those techniques: https://youtu.be/wROMvJejf8Y


https://youtu.be/wROMvJejf8Y

https://youtu.be/wROMvJejf8Y

Tips – Robot Game Strategy

• Develop a strategy for maneuvering the robot on the field that maximizes the

number of points yet is simple enough to complete consistently within 2½

minutes

• ALL team members should participate in this activity

• Help the team set realistic expectation and not plan on programming ALL

the missions; pick the ones that work consistently

• Start with the easy missions and make sure they are done consistently

before going on to more complex missions

• Group missions in the same field area to reduce the number of trips

• Look for clear paths

• Plan each trip by measuring the distance traveled

• Plan and divide the work among sub-teams: programmer, builder and

field setter

• Have the kids explain the plan before they start programming to reinforce

the “planning” concept and help them prepare for the Robot Design

Judging


Tips – Robot Design

• Arms, attachments and mechanisms

– Passive attachments are better

– Smaller is better (Murphy’s law)

– Plan for deviations when building attachments: make them wider

– Combine functions to minimize exchange time and returns to base

– You have two motor to power all attachments and mechanisms

• General

• Combine multiple missions in one program

• The simpler the better to accomplish the missions

• Have the team review robots on YouTube to get ideas

• Make sure components do not come apart after a few trials

• Provide a Robot Design Executive Summary


Tips – Programming

• NO PROGRAMMING changes one week before the competition and

especially on competition day – changes under stressful conditions can

create worse outcomes.

• Verify that all files are backed up before programming starts!

• Do not program when battery charge is below 1/3 level

• If the robot can execute a program successfully 3 times in a row, it is done

• Add comments to the programs to describe what blocks do and why

– E.g., “Turn right to face the safety area”

• If possible, design programs so that the robot always starts from the same

position in base to eliminate confusion during competition

• USE SENSORS!!!!!


Los Angeles Region FLL Resources

• New To FLL web page: http://www.la-fll.org/new-to-fll.html

• Team Resources: http://www.la-fll.org/team-resources.html

• FIRST Resource: http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library


www.firstinspires.org 800-871-8326

6/5/2017

http://www.la-fll.org/new-to-fll.html








http://www.la-fll.org/team-resources.html






http://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library





Documents

FLL Introduction for Coaches Hydro Dynamics June 2017 · • Expectation • Tips 6/5/2017 ... Inspire youth to appreciate science & technology in a sport setting ... (World Fest,