FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an international program, created by FIRST and LEGO, designed to get children interested in and excited about science, technology and engineering.
Every year, FIRST releases a new challenge that engages the teams in hands-on robotics design and scientific research. The theme for the challenge is different each year, allowing teams to learn about a variety of subjects.
Participants, ages 9-14, form teams of between two and 10 members. Teams can form from any group - school, scouts, religious organizations, home school groups, or even groups of friends.
After the challenge has been released, teams have 12 weeks to design, program and build their robot, and prepare an in-depth research presentation related to the challenge theme. The LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit is used to build a robot capable of completing tasks autonomously on the playing field.
Team members can use any LEGO parts to build the robot - including parts they already own.
In December, the team's hard work culminates in a one day, high-energy, sports-like tournament.
During the tournament, teams have several rounds on competition tables to get the best score possible. When not competing with their robots, teams give their research presentation, are interviewed about the technical design of their robot, and how they worked as a team. The winners of the Director's Award, the most prestigious award, are given the opportunity to compete at FLL World Fest, held in Atlanta.
For more information about FLL and this year's challenge, please visit the official
FLL website.