KY FIRST LEGO League

The yearly challenge has two primary parts related to an annual theme (FIRST^® AGE™): Innovation Project and Robot Game. 

• Teams apply the engineering design process using the LEGO® SPIKE Prime or MINDSTORMS® robot kit to design, build, and program an autonomous robot to complete as many missions as possible in 2 ½ minutes.
• The Innovation Project puts the annual theme into real-world context and typically has three components: 1) Look at the problem (also called research), 2) Propose an innovative solution, and 3) Share results with others in community.
• Tournaments are like sporting events with judges, referees, and awards. They are typically all day, high energy events.
• Teams are evaluated at tournaments in four areas: 1) Core Values link to FLL Values, 2) Innovation Project, 3) Robot Design, and 4) Robot Game Performance. Each aspect is equally important and is worth 25% of the overall score.
• FLL is a team sport! There are many roles to fill on a team, and each team member should be open to try different ones. The best teams divide up the work so individual efforts complement each other.

Team members:

• explore topics that relate to the current season’s theme,
• work together to build and program a LEGO model with one of LEGO’s robotics kits,
• create a team poster that shows what they learned, and
  
• document their work in their own Engineering Notebook.

The team participates in an Explore Festival where they showcase their LEGO model and team poster.

Identify two or more adults (18 or older) as coaches/mentors.

An adult can coach multiple teams. Coaches DO NOT need robot or technical experience, but must be willing to learn, organize and facilitate the team, and complete FIRST’s online Youth Protection training and background check. FIRST sends coaches access to digital guidebooks, getting started materials, and other coach resources after they register the team.

Recruit 2-10 kids.

FLL Challenge team members must be 14 or under on January 1, 2025 to participate in the FIRST AGE season. FLL suggests kids be at least 9 years old. An individual can be on only one FLL team per season.

Register the FLL Challenge team with FIRST.

Registration opens in May each year and runs until mid-September or until all slots are filled, whichever comes first. Team members do not need to be identified until tournament registration.

Order the LEGO^® Education SPIKE™ Prime Robotics Set (if a LEGO robot kit is not already available).

Do this as early as possible to start learning about programming and building a few basic robot designs. If your school or team has access to LEGO’s earlier product lines, teams may still use any LEGO Mindstorms robots in FLL competition, such as the LEGO EV3 or NXT. If budget allows, you may consider purchasing a second robot for larger teams.

Order the Challenge Set, specific to this year’s challenge (or arrange to share one with another team).

Select a meeting place and hold regular meetings.

FLL teams can meet anywhere. It’s recommended that the teams meet in a space that can be secured and where a team can work on designing/programming the robot, researching the project, and preparing and practicing the presentations.

Build or buy a practice table for the Robot Game.

The game mat (part of the Challenge Set kit) is 4’ x 6’. We suggest it is used with a 4’ x 8’ practice table comparable to the regulation competition tables.

• Review instructions and specs to build your own.
  
• Purchase from a third party vendor, like AndyMark.

Attend a Coach or Team Workshop.

CINSAM and the Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky provide free training events to aid coaches, mentors and teams. See the season timeline below, and get regular updates and additional information on KY FLL's Facebook page.

Bring your team to compete at a Qualifying Tournament.

CINSAM will assign each registered team in Kentucky to one regional tournament. CINSAM will email tournament assigments to all competing FLL Challenge teams in October.

Identify two or more adults (18 or older) as coaches/mentors.

An adult can coach multiple teams. Coaches DO NOT need robot or technical experience, but must be willing to learn, organize and facilitate the team, and complete FIRST’s online Youth Protection training and background check. FIRST sends coaches access to digital guidebooks, getting started materials, and other coach resources after they register the team.

Recruit 2-6 kids.

Explore team members must be 9 or under on January 1, 2024 to participate in the FIRST DIVE^SM season. FLL suggests kids be at least 6 years old. An individual can be on only one FLL team per season.

Register the FLL Explore team with FIRST.

Registration opens in May each year. Team members do not need to be identified until just prior to the Explore Festival.

Order the LEGO^® Education SPIKE™ Essential or SPIKE™ Prime Robotics Set (if a LEGO robot kit is not already available).

Do this as early as possible to start learning about programming and building a few basic robot designs. If your school or team has access to LEGO’s earlier robot kits, teams may still use any LEGO robot kit in FLL Explore Festivals, such as LEGO’s WeDo or Mindstorms product lines. The SPIKE Essentials is geared toward younger ages, so if your team may be progressing up to FLL Challenge in a year or so, then consider purchasing the SPIKE Prime which can be used for both FLL Explore and FLL Challenge. On FIRST’s Explore team registration page, coaches will be given the option to purchase the SPIKE™ Essential robotics kit from LEGO Education as a convenience, not a requirement. Teams may purchase eligible LEGO robotics kits where ever they are able to find them for purchase. The SUBMERGED Explore set is included with Explore team registration and includes LEGOs, Meeting Guide, and Engineering Notebooks aligned with the current season’s theme.

Select a meeting place and hold regular meetings.

FLL teams can meet anywhere. It’s recommended that the teams meet in a space that can be secured and where a team can work on designing, building, and programming the robot, and constructing their "show me" posters.

Attend a Coach or Team Workshop.

CINSAM and the Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky provide free training events to aid coaches, mentors, and teams. See season timeline below and get regular updates and additional information on KY FLL's Facebook page.

Bring your team to showcase their season at an Explore Festival.

CINSAM will assign each registered Explore team in Kentucky to participate in one FLL Explore Festival. CINSAM will email festival assigments to all participating Explore teams in October.

*Join the virtual meeting. Zoom Meeting Code: 915 0506 5300

**Teams need to qualify to compete at these events. Spectators are welcome to attend.