"If I want to teach my students in how to have complete control over where the robot is going, where do I start?" Carsten M.
Prepare for FIRST LEGO League Robot Game. The complete guide
This FIRST LEGO League Robot Game guide is the single greatest resource to prepare for the competition. The goal of the guide is to make it easier for every mentor, team and team member to successfully participate in the FIRST LEGO League Robot Game and to have a lot of fun regardless of their experience and level. There are over 300+ robots, 1500+ attachments/constructions, 50+ courses, 500+ tutorials available for rookie teams to start with and for more experienced teams to learn from.
- Why this guide?
- Where to start?
- Review of previous competitions
- Tips and Tricks from current season
- - 2021 CARGO CONNECT Tips and Tricks
- 10 out of 10
- Build a robot
- - LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
- - LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor
- - LEGO Mindstorms EV3
- - LEGO Mindstorms NXT
- - Box Robots & Advanced Constructions
- Program a robot
- - LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
- - LEGO Mindstorms EV3
- -- Calibrate Light/Color/Gyro Sensor
- - LEGO Mindstorms NXT
- - Advanced programming
- Attachments
- Tips and Tricks from previous seasons
- - 2020 RePLAY Tips and Tricks
- - 2019 City Shaper Tips and Tricks
- - 2018 Into Orbit Tips and Tricks
- Explore Further
- All reviews from 2012 to current date
- Subscribe as a team
- Join a Teachers Training
With a subscription for all the team members, students could move together through the courses, building instructions and programs while the mentor tracks the programs and navigates them.
Why this guide?
We are participants, mentors, judges, professional engineers and software developers with a lot of experience in FLL and we've been helping teams for the last 15 years. At FLLCasts we share specific courses, robot constructions, attachments and programs that demonstrate how different mission models could be accomplished. Note that we do not share solutions for the current season as this is against our rules, but we share the principles by which different missions could be accomplished and how similar missions were accomplished in the past. You have all the information on one place.
FLL is a journey and sometimes a difficult, but always rewarding one. You are not alone in this journey. FLLCasts has helped tens of thousands of students build Box Robots, use rubber bands and program advanced state machines to achieve a consistency of the behavior of the robot. We are your partner with all the experience and knowledge that we have and we will guide you through the process of learning and accomplishing the missions.
Where to start?
Start by moving through a specific course for your LEGO set. You can participate in FLL with any LEGO set, but the four LEGO sets that are most suitable are LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor, LEGO Mindstorms EV3 and LEGO Mindstorms NXT.
Both EV3 and NXT are no longer available from LEGO. LEGO does not sell these sets, but almost all of the constructions that were previously built with EV3 and NXT could be reused. After all, they are just LEGO parts with different electronics.
FIRST LEGO League with LEGO Education SPIKE Prime. "Challenge" competition for 9-16 years old
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime is new and we've added a complete guide on how to use it to build all the different type of attachments to accomplish different types of FIRST LEGO League missions. Check out the course.
FIRST LEGO League with LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor. "Challenge" competition for 9-16 years old
LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor is similar to SPIKE Prime. We've created a complete guide on how to use it to build all the different type of attachments to accomplish different types of FIRST LEGO League missions. You can participate in FLL even if you have a Robot Inventor 51515 set.
FIRST LEGO League with LEGO Mindstorms EV3
EV3 was the set that took FLL to where it is today. We've built many resource for EV3, and starting with this course will give you a good idea of how to compete at the competition with this LEGO robotics set
FIRST LEGO League with LEGO Mindstorms NXT
NXT is long gone, but this was the first set we've used for FLL and this was the construction what we were using
Review of previous competitions
"Smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from everywhere they can"
When you prepare for the current FLL season there is nothing better than having all the experience from participating in previous competitions. But this is not possible, because previous competitions are...well...previous. You are forming the team now. Luckily we've recorded and explained our solutions to the FLL challenges since 2012. Start with the most recent and move back looking at the missions and their solutions and review. Learn how a similar mission was approached in the past. As you have this toolbox of knowledge you can now decide which of the attachments and robots to modify and use for the current season.
An additional option is to use the FLLCasts Off Seasons 2019 course. It does not require an FLL field and you could build the mission models from your EV3 sets. It is a good course for preparing for FLL competitions.
Tips and Tricks from current season
2021 CARGO CONNECT Tips and Tricks
10 out of 10
We try to build robots that can accomplish the missions 10 out of 10 times. Building and programming a reusable and consistent robot is the single greatest thing you could learn. Look at the different examples for "10 out of 10" tutorials.
Build a robot
There are several different options for different robot bases, chassis and approaches.
Learn by building several robot constructions and then choose a design that suits your team and your goals. Simple constructions are powerful and you could easily win a local or regional competition with them. Look at the robots that could be built from the LEGO set that you have, but also look at robots that are from different sets as they have a lot of good ideas in them that you can incorporate.
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor
LEGO Mindstorms EV3
LEGO Mindstorms NXT
Box Robots & Advanced Constructions
Moving directly to the Box Robots for a rookie team could be challenging, but you are participating in FIRST LEGO League after all :). Challenge is what you are here for. Check out the course first to learn the ideas behind the concepts and implementations. Then build the robots following the building instructions.
Program a robot
You can not prepare for competition without learning how to use the sensors. Learn to use them, to follow lines, the position yourself on the field with the Color/Light sensors, to detect your rotations with the Gyro, and to use State machines to separate the states in your program.
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
LEGO Mindstorms EV3
Light, Color and Gyro Sensors Should be Calibrated
You will surely get tired of all the differences in the venues and their lighting conditions. Winning teams have the sensors properly calibrated and could calibrate them very fast, just before the runs.
LEGO Mindstorms NXT
Advanced programming
Learn more advanced programming like moving straight and state machines. This is the most common problem at competitions. How do you move straight? or at least Straighterrrr?
Attachments
Learn to build attachments. Rubber Bands, Gears, you name it. Do not over engineer. Use as few parts as possible. Build simple pinless attachments that could be changed quickly. An attachment should work 9 out of 10 times. Use rubber bands, gear wheel, worm gears, racks, levers.
Tips and Tricks from previous seasons
We publish tips and tricks at the start of every season. We share what you could look at and learn from. Make sure you check them out as they gather all the resources for the seasons with all the rules, building instructions and the specific tips and tricks how a mission could be accomplished.
2020 RePLAY Tips and Tricks
2019 City Shaper Tips and Tricks
2018 Into Orbit Tips and Tricks
Finally, you explore what you could further learn
At FLLCasts.com we have many resources on a lot of different topics connected with FIRST LEGO League and other robotics competitions. Make sure to check for new Tutorials and Building Instructions
All reviews from 2012 to current date
These are reviews not only for FIRST LEGO League, but also for World Robot Olympiad. Check them out. You might find interesting attachments and programs on which to base you current approaches to the competition
Team Subscription
Subscribe to access all of the materials. Learn more about the Personal B and Team subscription.
Teachers Training
'Smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from everywhere they can'. Join our online training to prepare better for LEGO robotics competitions.
