VADCFLL-L Archives

First Lego League in Virginia and DC

VADCFLL-L@LISTSERV.JMU.EDU

Options: Use Forum View

Use Proportional Font
Show HTML Part by Default
Condense Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Sender:
First Lego League in Virginia and DC <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 23 Sep 2014 11:19:27 -0400
Reply-To:
Subject:
From:
Curt Tran <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Type:
multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0238_01CFD720.3E3AF410"
In-Reply-To:
Organization:
ITFederal
MIME-Version:
1.0
Parts/Attachments:
Hi Everyone,

I just want to summarize for our New Coaches what to expect at a regional tournament.  

 

There are three judging sessions:  Robot Design, Project Presentation, and Core Value (or Teamwork).  Each session is 10 minutes with 5 minutes for the kids to make their presentation (or for Core Value to showcase how they perform as a team solving a secret challenge) and 5 minutes for the judges to ask question (Q&A).  There is one rubric for each of these sessions that the judges will fill out after seeing the team.  Tournament official will typically give these completed rubric sheets to the team at the end of the day for team feedback.

 

There are three robot matches of 2.5 minutes each where the highest score from each team are used for Robot Performance Award determination.  There is also one 2.5 minutes trial run where the score is not used for award calculation.  The trial runs are schedule at the beginning of the tournament so teams can adjust (repair/modify) their robot for running on the tournament tables.

 

When teams arrived at the tournament (or sometime email to the coaches one or two days before), they will receive their official tournament schedule where the robot matches and the three judging sessions are spread out throughout the day.  Each team will get an assigned small table space in the Pit area (typically located in the cafeteria if the tournament is at a school facility).  This is where the team can showcase their research project and core value.  Kids typically trade souvenir or handout pamphlet about their team.  The pit area also has a couple of practice tables that a team can sign up for time slots to practice and debug their programs.

 

There are videos of past judging sessions and robot matches that team Scitobor has posted on their website at www.scitobor.com.  A sample video of a project skit can be seen by click on the link “Kilmer's FlyingSegway Research Project” (bottom middle of the page).  The links to the videos of past robot matches, Robot Design and Core Value judging sessions are at the bottom right corner of the page.

 

 

Skip,

 

The same rubrics are being used for regional, State and World Festival.  The rules and guidelines are the same for all tournaments.  However, there are some slight differences.  The Core Values Poster (CVP) and the Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES) required for World Festival and by some states have not been a requirement for VADCFLL.  Since you have mentioned that you are looking for ways to make the team stand out, I have attached FLL description of these two optional items for your references.  They are not required, but hopefully they will help your team to stay focus on their presentation.  You can print out the codes and the RDES for the TEAM to give to the judges during their Robot Design sessions.  (I’ve highlighted the world TEAM to point out that the kids should be the only one that should be interacting with the judges and not the coaches/parents once they enter the judging room.  Teams sometime can be disqualified if their coaches intervene or lead their team during these sessions.)

 

To answer one of your questions, the team doesn’t have to bring anything to the three judging sessions.  However, there are no clear cut ways to rank all the teams during judging, and we do not rank teams except for the scores in those robot game matches.  FLL judging is both objective and subjective.  What this means is that if two teams are judged by two different set of judges, their rubric sheets might be marked exactly the same, but during the judges deliberation for awards, the judges need to select one of them for awards and those project description document, the RDES and code listing, or the CVP might make the different.

 

To answer your other interesting question on “repair/modify”, it’s all about the autonomous robot design that FLL is trying to teach the kids.  Let’s try to relate this to your Navy experiences, if you take a battleship located in the Atlantic Ocean and drop it in the Pacific Ocean (the robot go from your team missions table to the official tournament tables), now give the ship a navigation direction to turn 45 degree Port side (left swing turn the robot 45 degree) and you would not be quite sure where the ship is heading now because the current in the Atlantic and the Pacific are quite different.  You are not sure if your ship and those tournament tables are facing North or South.  Although your team’s mission table and the tournament table were built from the exact same specs, they are not always the same.  One table is slightly leaning left while the other slightly leaning right, and what happen when the robot make that point turn?  Your team’s table mat has been lying flat for weeks while the mat for the tournament table was just un-rolled the night before and recently lay on that tournament table (simulating the real world environment).  What happen to the robot when it hit one of the crests on the mat?  In summary, the answer to your question is do the kids using attachments or any of the sensors or they just relying on just pure mathematic calculation (i.e. turn the wheel 5 rotations, point turn 15 degree, etc.)

 

Best wishes,

T. (Curt) Tran

Judges Advisor, GMU Regional ’11, ’12 & ’13

Judges Advisor, TJHSST Regional ’09

Mentor Team #5390, Kilmer-I ’09

Mentor Team #8941, Kilmer-II ’09

Coach Team #324, Scitobor ’08

Coach Team #3563, Rabid Llama Lords ’07

 

From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ann Henshaw
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 10:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] When and How are the rubrics filled out?

 

Skip

Just an FYI on the core values side - for the first time in 7 years of coaching, last year the team put together a short (1 minute or less) core values "skit" - it was basically a WHO WE ARE in top ten fashion - each girl had one or two lines (1.  We are the Dynamite Twisters  2.  We are from Alexandria VA  3.  We are all in 6th grade….9. We love My little pony..etc).  The team found that it was helpful if the judges asked “do you want to tell us anything else about your team?"  and sometimes they shared it and sometimes they didn’t - but they loved to say it and had fun introducing themselves during outreach with it - totally NOT necessary but just wanted to share!

Our girls are high energy and TALK quite a bit so this was a settling “skit”!!

Good luck!!  The kids amaze me in different ways each season!

Team Dynamite Twisters!

We also do a few “practice" team building activities at meetings  - maybe every other meeting as time permits!  Their favorite is the mini marshmallows and spaghetti “build the tallest structure” activity!!

 

On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:45 PM, Skip Morrow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:





So, does the team need to bring anything to the Core Values judging? Just their minds and team spirit?





.

 

On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 9:40 PM, Denyse M. Carroll <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Core Values is not a presentation but a team building activity. This is a secret activity that even the tournament directors do not know until the middle of the week before their competition.  

The team is given a minute to plan, a few minutes to execute the activity and then the judges may ask questions related to being a team. 

The challenge activity is always fun and light-heart but the judges are watching the entire time. They are looking for the entire team to be working together to plan, execute and complete whatever fun activity they are given.  

Try some team building activities to prepare the team for Core Values. Many are posted online! 

Best of luck this season! 
Denyse Carroll
Tournament Director
Osbourn Park High School/PWCS 

K12 STEM Education Coordinator
SPARK, the Education Foundation for Prince William County Public Schools
703.791.7521

Tell me, I’ll forget
Show me, I’ll remember
Involve me, I’ll understand

  _____  

From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Shweta Kohli <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 9:12:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] When and How are the rubrics filled out? 

 

Drake. Thanks, This is really useful information.

 

When you say there is a presentation on Core Values.. What is the best way to do it, is it presenting core values how the team understands it? Should it be on a poster board or presented in a skit sort of way? 

 

This is our first time as a team.. So much too learn!!! 

 

Thanks 

Shweta  

Ultimate Programmers


On Sep 22, 2014, at 11:27 AM, Gail D. Drake <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I have a few thoughts, I am sure ... you will get many :) 

 

You have three presentations; each are five minutes: 

 

Core Values

Research

Robot

 

Questions: 

(1) When do we show off our code and mechanical design for the robot?  In Robot judging and when the judges roam (if they get the opportunity) 

 

(2) On the Robot Design Page, under Mechanical Efficiency, the Exemplary criteria states "streamlined use of parts and time to repair/modify". What do they mean by having time to repair/modify? ​The greatest impact in this arena is the ability to change manipulators at the game table in a reduced time period to use the allotted time to score game points. 

 

(3) coopertition, I totally have this vision of every team running around, trying to do something for another team in an effort to show the judges that they met the objective! Not a bad thing--I am just trying to think of ways to make my team stand out.

​As a Tournament Director, you would be amazed how this is relatively clear.  Items that are clear to me (a) the team is the kids, for the kids and about the kids - parents and coaches are only guiding - when this happens, kids talk to kids (b) the kids are at the event to learn from other teams, as much as their own (c) kids actually talk with others, are polite to others, and genuinely care about others [this is often a mimicked concept] (d) kids help other kids 

 

Respectfully,  

Professor Drake

Associate Professor Northern Virginia Community College

ILITE FRC Robotics Coach

ILITE FTC Robotics Coach

Robotics Tournament Director

US Cyber Patriot Coach


  _____  


From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Skip Morrow <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 9:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VADCFLL-L] When and How are the rubrics filled out? 

 

Second question of the day!

 

Does VA-DC use the same rubric as the national league? 

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/Official_Event_Info/Combined%20Rubrics2014.pdf

When and how is it filled out? From what I understand, the tournament is composed of two (or is it three) robot games (best score saved) and the 5-minute project presentation. When do we show off our code and mechanical design for the robot? How will they assess teamwork? Core values? Some of the grading criteria seem like they would be hard to asses in such a short time.

 

Specifically, I do have a question about one particular item on the rubric. On the Robot Design Page, under Mechanical Efficiency, the Exemplary criteria states "streamlined use of parts and time to repair/modify". What do they mean by having time to repair/modify?

 

For the coopertition, I totally have this vision of every team running around, trying to do something for another team in an effort to show the judges that they met the objective! Not a bad thing--I am just trying to think of ways to make my team stand out.

 

Skip





.


  _____  


To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". 
VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to subscribe. 

  _____  

To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". 
VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to subscribe. 

 

  _____  

To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". 
VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to subscribe. 

 

  _____  

To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". 
VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to subscribe. 


-- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".

-- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe.


ATOM RSS1 RSS2