Transcript Slide 1

FRC Team 1511
Rolling Thunder
FLL Coach Training
2010 Season
September 8, 2010
Matthieu Dora
Larry Lewis
FLL Coach Training

Presentation Overview
– FLL Overview
– Coaches
– Mentors
– More Coaching advice
– Judging
– Tournament
FLL Overview
FIRST Lego League ( 12th year !)
 CORE Values
 TEAM MISSIONS/TASKS/COMMITMENT
 The TIMELINE

FLL CORE VALUES
Respect each other in the Best Spirit of
Teamwork
 Behave with courtesy and compassion for
others at all times
 Honor the spirit of friendly competition
 Act with Integrity
 Demonstrate Gracious Professionalism
 Encourage others to adopt these values

GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM
Gracious attitudes are ‘win – win’
 Gracious folks respect others and let that
respect show in their actions
 Gracious professionals make a valued
contribution in a manner pleasing to others and
to themselves as they possess special
knowledge and are trusted by society to use that
knowledge responsibly
- Woodie Flowers, FIRST Co-founder and MIT
professor
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TEAM MISSION
Your FLL Team is expected to:
Explore in depth the challenge theme
 Share the fun of technical problem solving
 Open up the possibility of technical
careers

TEAM TASKS
Your FLL team will be evaluated on:
Research Presentation
 Robot Design and Construction
 Teamwork

TEAM COMMITMENT
Teamwork
 Risk Taking
 Experimentation
 Dealing with failure effectively

The FLL Timeline

Mid-May Thru Mid-Sept
– Team Formation and registration

September 3rd
– The challenge is released

Sept – Oct – Nov
– Teams work on the challenge

Late Nov – Early Dec
– Qualifying Events
– State Tournament @ University of Rochester

Late April
– FLL World Festival
COACHES
The Team Coach is the team leader.
 Coaches provide structure and direction as
the kids work to create the solution to the
year’s challenge & project.
 Coaches are rarely technical experts.
 The most important features of a coach
are patience, dedication, and a willingness
to learn with the team.

Good Advice for Coaches

Do not take FLL too seriously.

The goal of FLL is for your kids to have fun with
robots while being exposed to technology and
science.
Do not solve the problem for the kids.
 Avoid over emphasis on winning (compete to
improve)
 Have fun.

The Mentors
A mentor is any person who works with
the team.
 Invite guest speakers to come and speak
to your team about their project
 Asking guest mentors to come to at least
1 meeting is a great recruiting tool. Once
they get involved, they typically stay
involved.

Mentors
Engineers – Can help provide skills for the robot’s design
or help with the team project.
 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) member – High
school student who may have experience building a
robot.
 Science professional – Perhaps an expert in some area
of this years challenge can provide help with research
and solutions.
 Graphic Artist – Can provide help with presentations, TShirt designs, etc
 Computer Programmer – Can help the team learn how to
program the robot and troubleshoot.

Nuts and Bolts of Coaching

Time Commitment
– Meet with your team twice a week for about 2 hours.
Adjust as you see fit.

Time vs Progress
– Most progress is made in the final couple of weeks.
Expect to expend more effort towards the end.

THE KIDS COME FIRST
– Remember the kids are the ones learning by doing.
Let the kids solve the problems. Your role is to be a
guide and director.
The Screws and Nails of
Coaching

Providing facilities
– Meetings need access to a computer, the
internet, a robot work area, and a place to
layout a 4x8 playfield. A classroom or
conference room works.
– The ‘Table’ is a 4x8 sheet of plywood with
2x4’s around the edge.
The Budget

A sample budget
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Team registration fee: $200
Field Setup Kit: $65
Tournament fee: $125
T-Shirts, batteries, etc: $100
Startup costs
– Robot Kit: $395
– Practice Table: $50

Travel Expenses (if needed)
– 3 hotel rooms: $300
– Food for: $150
Team Dynamics

Children under the age of 11
– Will tend to want to start over if something does not
work
– Respond better to hands-on examples or visual
explanations.
– Require a little more time and explanation

Children over the age of 11
– Are more willing to try and improve their existing
design
– Can handle conceptual suggestions

Teams with mixed age groups will require some
additional direction
Team Dynamics

Experienced vs Rookies
– Some of your kids may be experts at LEGO,
some may be rookies
– Try having the older experienced kids help
train the younger students
– Be sure everyone is involved and owns some
part of the robot or presentation
Evaluation of your Team

During the contests, your team is
evaluated on the primary tasks…
– The Team Project Presentation
– Robot Design and Construction
– Teamwork
Evaluations are subjective and done by a
panel of volunteer judges.
 Awards are assigned by the judging
panels.
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The Team Project Presentation
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1.
2.
3.
Your team is asked a very open question about the
year’s theme. For example, 2009’s game Smart Move.
In the best way possible, describe your community.
Next, create a list of all the ways things move in your
community. Choose one method of transportation
and research how it is dangerous, slow, or
problematic.
Create an innovative solution to help them improve
the safety, speed or efficiency of your chosen means
of transportation.
Finally, share what you have learned with others in
your community.
Team Project Presentation
Judging
Your team is asked to select a challenge, create a
solution, and present it to the judges.
 The format of your presentation is up to the team.
Examples in the past have been everything from skits,
newscasts, videos, and songs.
 Your team is evaluated against a rubric that you will be
provided.
 Significant items on the rubric are:
– Teamwork (does everyone participate?)
– Research Quality & Accuracy (not just internet and
make sure it is correct)
– Presentation (try to not go over 5 minutes and try to
make it interactive)

Robot Design Judging
Your team will be interviewed by a judging
panel to discuss the design and
construction of their robot.
 This is an interactive interview, we do not
expect a formal presentation.
 There is a rubric the judges are looking
for. You will be provided the rubric in your
coaches materials.

Teamwork Judging
FIRST uses an informal method of judging
your teamwork.
 The judges are evaluating your team
during the Project and Robot Design
sessions.
 The judges are observing your team at
random times during the day.
 A rubric is provided.

Robot Performance
The 4th element to the robot contest is the
score that your robot generates on the
table.
 Your score is the objective measurement
of the robots success.
 The best score of three matches is the
one that counts, and is used to rank all of
the teams.

Qualifier Tournament Day
November 20th (Saturday)
 Event is from about 8 AM to 4 PM
 Three main activities for the teams
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– Pit area and practice tables.
– Technical and Presentation Judging
– Robot Contest

Award Ceremony
Pit Area and Practice Tables
The pit is were we come to find your team
for all activities.
 Each team will have a single table and a
power strip.
 Practice rounds and final tune up of the
robot is common.

The Judging Process
Technical and Presentation judging starts
in the morning before the contest. A
schedule will be posted on contest day.
 Teams are retrieved from their pit table
and returned by host volunteers.
 Judging will happen concurrently with the
contest.
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Robot Contest
The contest is held in the Gym.
 There are 3 rounds of robot contest.
 Best single score determines the winner.
 Teams are retrieved by runners, and
queued up 3 matches ahead of their run.
 The teams perform with their robot and
are then returned to the pits.

Award Ceremony
At the end of the day, awards are
presented.
 Only one judged award per team.
 Robot performance is a separate award
and is based only on score.

Wrap UP
FLL is a well thought out program that
every school can participate in.
 FLL has a great set of CORE principals.
 Running an FLL team is very rewarding for
coaches and mentors.
 FLL is FUN for everyone!

FRC team 1511
Rolling Thunder
www.penfieldrobotics.com
www.usfirst.org
www.firstlegoleague.org
Larry Lewis
(585) 242-4479 – work
[email protected]