The goal isn’t for the rules to be confusing or tricky, but they *are* quite specific. That’s why there are updates throughout the season, as inconsistencies or ambiguous bits come to light. The FLL Galactic folks put a LOT of work into trying to make them clear, but they’re also going to deliberately vary them a bit from year to year specifically to keep non-rookie teams on their toes.

 

Veterans realize that this is a sprint, not a marathon, and that it’s often a challenge just to keep things moving fast enough to get to your regional with something that works. But we do see a lot of the same questions every year, and as Amy notes, an awful lot of them are actually answered in the rules. 

 

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask questions—that’s what this list is for! But if you’re confused about something, it’s probably worthwhile to look through the rules carefully before posting, just to save yourself the turnaround time. Better yet, task the team with doing so—they’re the ones who really need to understand things. 

 

And that’s part of FLL and real life (understanding the rules), so it’s a worthwhile skill to hone. It’s an artificial environment, so I’d suggest that expecting any particular preferred/required behavior is a mistake. There have been years where the robot was to return to Home unless it had just completed a particular mission, for example. 

-- 

Phil Smith III

 

Coach, The Capital Girls (retired)

Team 1900 (2002)

Team 2497 (2003)

Team 2355 (2004)

Team 1945 (2005)

From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amy Nichols
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2019 1:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Robot returning to Home/Launch Area

 

I usually don't respond to these posts, but a few things have struck me. This may not be true, but it appears that a lot of the questions and angst in these emails could simply be solved by reading the rules. Or reading them again. Every team is reading the same set of rules...no one has an easier set of rules than other teams. But the team's that do well are the ones that have taken the time to understand the challenge before - like back in August/Sept - they begin working on their missions. Or revisit the rules frequently of the course of the season as new things come up.

If the new rules have been a challenge for the kids, then great...FIRST has been successful. That's the goal.


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