FIRST Lego League

FIRST now runs a separate competition for middle school students called the FIRST Lego League (FLL). The structure is similar to that of the high school FIRST competitions, but there are many differences that simplify things for younger students:

• Any group of middle-school-aged kids (school, church, neighborhood) can form a team.
• There is more time to build the robots.
• Students use Legos to construct their robots.
• Costs are much lower.

The 2004 FLL challenge has not been announced at the time of writing this article (it is announced in May), but in 2003 the challenge was called Mission Mars. According to this page the mission looks like this:

• The robot starts on a platform and must go down a ramp.
• The robot must load a canister onto a canister launcher and launch it.
• The robots must clear "dust" (Lego blocks) from a "solar panel" (a platform).
• The robot must move three "habitation modules" into position and connect them together.
• The robot must connect together two other "habitation modules."
• The robot must push a small Lego rover off of an area on the field known as the "sand dune."
• The robot must pick up and move three "ice cores" back to the base.
• The robot must move several Lego "boulders" into the "launch circle" on the playing field.
• The robot must pass over a low wall of Legos to prove its all-terrain ability.

In addition to the robotic portion, there is also a research assignment to complete.

Approximately 40,000 students participate in FLL each year -- it is an incredibly popular program!