FIRST LEGO LEAGUE CHALLENGE
| GEARS is excited to provide our sixth season of the Spring Series FIRST LEGO League Challenge for teams in 2024. Once again, we will be hosting a series of four FLL Robot Game events. Each of these will be hosted at the new GEARS facility in Osceola. Unlike traditional one-day events, this series affords teams the unique opportunity to return to work after each competition, to sharpen skills in an effort to have greater success in the days to follow. Teams are encouraged to share, observe, advise, or simply visit with other teams at each event, so they can learn from each other in the true spirit of Coopertition (a FIRST Core Value). Since each competition is spread 3 weeks apart, teams have ample time to modify their robots or adjust their strategy in an effort to improve their performance at the next event.
This is a great opportunity for teams to focus on the designing, building and programming of robots. It can also be used as a recruiting tool for next season. For this reason, we are allowing students currently in 3rd grade to participate as they will be old enough to be on a competition team in the fall. You may organize your team in any way you wish. Teams who have already competed in an official FIRST LEGO League event during the Master Piece season can either compete with the same teammates or they can re-organize their teams in any manner they wish. (See Rules for more information about team organization.) Teams are free to use the same robot used in other Master Piece events, or compete with an entirely new design. Each team can choose their best strategy, but all FLL game rules still apply. In previous years, we have had the ability to organize teams from individuals in our community. Unfortunately, GEARS doesn’t currently have a practice facility and cannot host team practices. Individual registration will not be available for the Spring Series but we are hopefully to be accepting registrations in July for the fall season. Events like this provide a great opportunity for those less familiar with FIRST programs to discover all that FIRST LEGO League has to offer. Youth groups like Scouts or 4-H can learn more about the EV3 and Spike Prime robots, the programming language and game details in a less formal setting, while also enjoying the chance to meet other teams and coaches who can share their own experiences in FLL. Off season events leave coaches and kids feeling more confident and ready to take on the new FLL challenge in the fall. |
 
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