Robotics Update (Nov 14, 2009)

Now that we are all done familiarizing with the basic functions of the Robot, we started focusing on the FLL game missions. First we watched some videos from last year's mission, and saw how different each team's robot design could be.
One team had a huge robot that broke off at different part of the missions.

another team had a very small and compact robot that efficiently moved from mission to mission:

Both teams scored the full 400 points.

Next we watched the official mission video. and familiarized ourselves with every detail of the missions, and fully understand the different ways of scoring the points.


The kids were broken up into groups of 2-3 kids, and each group will be working on building their own robot.
The kids should start thinking about the shape of their robot. Sketch it out in their notebook.

How are they going to get the loops? scoop it up with a shovel? pick it up one by one with a hook? or store it in a basket on the robot? catch it with a net, then drag it back?

Map out the sequence and route of their mission, what is the order of the missions that they are going to do. which route are they going to take? under the bridge? over the bridge? take the long route along the edge?
If they want to go under the bridge, how high can the robot be?

These are all factors that will help or limit the design of their base robot.

Three Questions they need to answer:
1 - How many wheels will my robot have? 2 wheels? 3 wheels or 4 wheels? treads?
2 - How will my robot cross the double barrel barrier? Run over it? go around it? bypass it, and cross at the wall?
3 - Where is my robot going to end at?
At the Target?


On the yellow bridge?



on the red part of the bridge?



*Bring a notebook, so the kids can start documenting their design in their engineering notebook.