FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has announced a new robotics platform for the 2008 FIRST Tech Challenge season! FTC is a robotics competition designed for high-school-aged students. Each fall teams of up to ten students compete at regional tournaments where the students, collaborating with mentors, must apply math and science concepts to solve the annual challenge.
For the 2008 season teams will be required to use the new FTC Competition Kit, which includes a TETRIX Base Set (metal building elements, LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT robotics kit, servomotors, controllers, sensors, and LEGO NXT, LabView for FTC, and RobotC programming software.
In a recent release, Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST, said, "Our primary goal at FIRST is to provide a continuum of connected events that allow children multiple entry points on the path of creativity, lifelong learning, and technologic literacy. I am so pleased that working with our partners Carnegie Mellon University, HiTechnic, LEGO Group, National Instruments, and Pitsco, we have incorporated advanced technology and materials that will enable our challenges to more closely resemble real-world engineering challenges. Overall, we believe we can now provide our studetnts with a robotics experience that is higher quality, more challenging, more rewarding and ultimately more fun."
To learn more about the new platform or to register a team for FTC, CLICK HERE
Building with LEGO Technic elements can be challenging, and sometimes even a bit intimidating! But thanks to a cool, new resource those design doubts and building blunders can quickly be replaced with construction support and expert advice!
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Rockwell Collins, a communication and aviation electronics solutions company, has teamed up with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to increase FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge teams throughout Iowa and across the nation. Over the next two years the company will contribute $1.3 million to the program in an effort to increase student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
For more on this story, CLICK HERE!
Registration for the 2008-2009 FIRST LEGO League season has begun! Registration opened on May 1st and will continue until all slots are filled, which is typically around mid-September. The cost to register a FLL team is $200. The FLL team registration process and fee do not include participation in any FLL event. To register a team, CLICK HERE.
The tournament application process will open in October. Tournaments are hosted nation-wide on a local, and then regional/state level. Teams participate at local events hopeing to qualify for larger, more regional tournaments. For more information on tournament dates and fees, CLICK HERE.
When you register, be sure to also order the Field Set-Up Kit ($65) for this year's challenge, Climate Connections. Without it, you won't be able to practice for FLL competitions! Field Set-Up Kits will begin to ship around the first of August. To learn more about products and pricing for this year's competition, CLICK HERE.
Following is a tentative schedule for the season. May 1 - Registration BeginsMid-May - Registration Materials and Robot Sets Begin to ShipAugust - Field Set-Up Kits Begin to ShipSeptember 5 - International Challenge ReleaseMid-to-Late September - Team Registration Closes/Last Day to Order ProductsOctober 1-15 - Tournament Applications Accepted (if FLL is handling applications)November-January - Tournament SeasonApril 2009 - World Festival
For more information about FIRST LEGO League, visit http://www.firstlegoleague.org/
FIRST LEGO League participants will embark on an exploration of the earth's climate in this year's competition challenge: Climate Connections!
While discovering the links between science, people, resources, and communities; FLL teams will unearth how we learn about past climates and dive into questions surrounding our current and future climate conditions.
Join FIRST LEGO League teams around the world to create a global game plan and make Climate Connections!
It was quite a feat and one that won't be forgotten soon!
In a record-setting two and a half minutes FIRST LEGO Leauge team Brothers' Keepers completed all of the FLL challenge tasks, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BOARD!
We know what you're thinking... "How did they do that!?!" Accroding to one of the team's proud parents the task of running the challenge on both boards was posed merely as a way to get the team thinking outside the box. The end result is simply amazing.
CLICK HERE to see the team's robot in action!