First LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide - Softcover

Kelly, James Floyd; Daudelin, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593271859 ISBN 13: 9781593271855

Publisher: No Starch Press, 2008

Synopsis

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an international program for kids ages 9 to 14 that combines a hands-on, interactive robotics program and research presentation with a sports-like atmosphere. Authors James Floyd Kelly and Jonathan Daudelin-both participants in numerous FIRST LEGO League competitions-have teamed up to bring coaches, teachers, parents, and students an all-in-one guide to FLL.

Written for both rookie and experienced teams, FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide includes in-depth coverage of topics like team formation and organization, robot building and programming, and the basics of getting involved with FLL. Before the authors delve into the specifics of robot and team building, they reveal the fascinating history of the FIRST organization and the sometimes puzzling structure of the FLL competition. Using a combination of real-life stories and candid commentary from actual FLL teams, as well as recollections of their own experiences, they offer an abundance of helpful guidance and dependable building and programming examples.

FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide explores the complex workings and structure of the FLL competition, including its four key components: Robot Game, Technical Interview, Project, and Teamwork. You'll learn how to:

• Organize, recruit, and manage a team
• Find equipment, mentors, and funding
• Design, build, and program winning robots
• Tackle each of the four FLL components-from Robot Game to Teamwork
• Use strategies and techniques from FLL masters to increase your scores

No matter what your role in the FLL competition, FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide will make you a better competitor, builder, designer, and team member. The only ingredient you need to add is your competitive spirit!

About this title

From the Author:

The book was written for both veteran and rookie teams - we talked with dozens of teams about their experiences with FLL and gathered tips, advice, worksheets, and more. The book has over a dozen downloadable files for use by teams (website address provided in the book) that can be modified as desired.

The book has 16 chapters in all plus one appendices. Chapters include:
(1) What is FLL? (2) How FLL Works (3) Guidelines and Rules (4) Finding Equipment, Mentors, and Funding (5) Starting or Building a Team (6) Managing Your Team (7) The Team Experience (8) Coaching a Team (9) NXT vs RCX (10) Basic Building (11) Building Techniques for the Robot Game (12) Sensors (13) Getting Organized for Programming (14) NXT-G Programming Concepts (15) The Project and (16) Tournaments and Beyond. Appendix includes a list of useful Resources for FLL teams and coaches.

We also provide weblinks for a discussion forum section created just for the book as well as the downloadable files mentioned in the chapters and any errata that might exist. We will continue to update the forum with news and information as well as occasional downloads for team use.

We tried our best to cover every aspect of FLL and hope we did a good job. The book is over 200 pages of advice that can be put to immediate use and, hopefully, give teams a jump start if they need it.

-James Floyd Kelly, August 2008

About the Author:

Jonathan Daudelin has been competing in FLL since age 13. In 2007, his team won the First Place Robot Performance and First Place Innovative Robot awards at the World Festival after their robot achieved perfect scores in all three rounds. He is a contributor to The NXT Step blog and a co-author of "The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book" (No Starch) and "The NXT Robotics Competition Workbook" (self-published).

About this edition

• Publisher: No Starch Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1593271859
• ISBN 13: 9781593271855
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264