Friday, January 13, 2012

Robotics Brooklyn FIRST LEGO League Tournament for Kids 9-14 at NYU/Poly Saturday Jan. 14

Free and open to the public. NYU/Poly is on Jay Street at Metrotech.

Tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 14) is the opening of the NYC robotics competition season with the qualifying tournament with over 40 teams from Brooklyn competing for the opportunity to go on to the finals at the Javits Convention Center in March where 80 teams winnowed from all the borough qualifiers will compete for the opportunity to go to the finals at the World Tournament with teams from around the globe in St. Louis in April.

Attending these events -- bring your kids --- is a great way to get your school involved next year. I will be manning the registration desk in the morning.

Yesterday I finished building the Field Set Up Kit just in time for the tournament. I had LEGO parts all over my man cave for weeks as each night I built another model. If you think that was easy check out the models on Facebook

I've been involved with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) since retiring in 2002. FIRST puts on various tournaments for kids from age 6-high school all over the world.

My focus has been the FIRST LEGO League, where teams of kids from age 9-14 (which includes elementary, middle and high schools) build and program robots out of LEGO materials. That makes for an interesting competition with 4th/5th graders competing on the same playing level as 9th graders. (And they do pretty well.) There are over 16,000 teams world wide with 8000 in the states.

Here in NYC we had around 180 teams register in September. We expect around 150 to take part in the borough qualifiers

The teams had over these months to prepare their robots for 4 shots throughout the day at completing a number of tasks within two and a half minutes. In addition, the teams have to do presentations in front of a panel of judges.

Each year there is a theme. This year it is Food Factor.

Some Food Factor Links

  1. 2011 Food Factor Challenge | FIRST LEGO League

    firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2011foodfactor
    The FLL Core Values are the fundamental elements that ... In the 2011 Food Factor Challenge, over 200000 9-16* year olds from over 55 countries will explore ...
  2. FLL 2011 "Food Factor" Robot Game EN - YouTube

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdTbTf4G0kSep 5, 2011 - 8 min - Uploaded by FLLHot
    This film explains missions and points of FLL Robot-Game 2011 "Food Factor - Keeping Food Safe". Please ...
  3. FLL 2011 Food Factor Missions - YouTube

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf_bQbPYLT8Sep 3, 2011 - 8 min - Uploaded by bgcalbanyor
    These are the missions for this year's Lego Robotics Tournament.
  4. FLL Project DVD - Food Factor season - YouTube

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBBnyz8syMJun 27, 2011 - 21 min - Uploaded by FLLGlobal
    The OFFICIAL FLL Project DVD for the 2011 Food Factor season. A rookie team's guide to the FLL Project ...


Check my robotics blog for updates and links: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

NYC Qualifiers Begin: Volunteers Needed

Hello, FLL FOOD FACTOR SEASON is in FULL EFFECT. We are holding Borough Tournaments all over the Tri-state area and we NEED YOUR HELP.  Below are the DATES/LOCATIONS/ SITE COORDINATOR info for you to choose from. I beg you to please respond to the specific SITE COORDINATOR and copy me at ealmonte311@gmail.com with the following info: Name, Email address, Telephone
FLL Volunteer Position – 1st & 2nd Choices. Note:
You need to have been TRAINED for REFEREE or JUDGE in order to be able to volunteer in any of the these two positions. We need PLENTY OF VOLUNTEERS, please spread the news and have your friends and family join us if they can.
BOROUGH TOURNAMENT DATES BELOW:

Saturday Jan. 14th Brooklyn Qualifier @ NYU-Poly
Coordinator: Susan Hermon - shermon@poly.edu

Saturday Jan.21st Bronx Qualifier @ Lehman HS
Coordinator: Bernie DiCristofalo – bdicrist@optonline.net

Saturday Jan. 21st Manhattan Qualifier @ CCNY
Coordinator: Elizabeth Vilchis – Vilchis.elizabeth@gmail.com

Saturday Jan. 28th Queens Qualifier @ George Ryan JHS 216
Coordinator: Peter Xanthus – ptx79@aol.com

Staten Island Qualifier : Feb 5 is Super Bowl - Target date is Feb. 12 if venue can be found.
Coordinator: Thomas Smolka – thomasjsmolka@gmail.com
List of teams competing in Brooklyn


Team [x] Object (home schooled)
St. Edmunds Elementary School
PS 94 K
PS 94 K
PS 321K
Packer Collegiate Inst.
Packer Collegiate Inst.
PS 8 K
PS 8 K
YWCA-NYC
MS 366K
Community Partnership Charter School
MS 354 School of Integrated Learning
PS 270 K The Dekalb School
Brooklyn Brownstone School
Mott Hall Bridges Academy
PS 3K The Bedford Village School
PS 256K Benjamin Banneker Elementary
PS 9K Teunis G. Bergen
PS 399 K Stanley Eugene Clarke 
PS 233K  Langston Hughes
PS 11K  Purvis J Behan School
MS 113K Ronald Edmonds Learning Center
PS 636 K Young Scholars’ Academy for Discovery and
Urban Assembly Institute of Math & Science for Young Women
Ocean Hill Collegiate Charter School
The Young Womens’ Leadership School TYWLS BK
Benjamin Banneker Academy K
PS 58 The Carroll School  
PS 58 The Carroll School  
PS 58 The Carroll School  
Salve Regina Catholic Academy
PS 261K
PS 321K
Sunset Park Prep MS 821K
IS 383 K
Philippa Schuyler MS
MS 354 School of Integrated Learning
PS 372 K 
PS 372 K 
Brooklyn School for Global Studies
Fort Green Prep Academy
PS 147k

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