Nari.
I hope i'm replying correctly.
We had a group of kids in our local elem school who wanted to join but  
were given tests and based on those tests not allowed on a team.
SO: a new community team was born of these kids and mine (who attend a  
private school), etc (my brilliant idea)
I have never done anything like this
I'm a 45 year old stay at home mom
I have First LEgo League, the Unofficial Guide.
we have 11 kids who want to be on our team. I understand there can  
only be 10 (any leeway with this)
We have the stuff sittting in the living room and our first meeting  
scheduled for this sunday.
Someone please tell me i'm not crazy to be doing this!
i know there's lots of help out there.
where should i begin??
thanks
Nari i LOVED your message below and love the whole idea of FLL as a no  
fail way to explore and learn and create.
thanks again,
Jen
[log in to unmask]

On Sep 16, 2011, at 6:40 AM, Anant S. Narayanan wrote:

> James:
>
> The design of the robot for this competition is entirely up to you.  
> The basic 9797 design (also known as the tribot) is a good place to  
> start.
>
> Your son will soon find that the trailing wheel design for the  
> tribot makes it hard to steer consistently - when the robot  
> reverses, a well made tribot's trailing arm will swing around  
> sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right. This will make the  
> robot's path hard to control - especially for missions outside the  
> base quadrant.
>
> If he gets to this learning point, he will next redesign the tribot  
> with a skid or slider, or take matters into his hands and build a  
> robot entirely from scratch . . . and an engineer will be born.  
> Remember to be there to watch and take pictures. The moment is  
> priceless.
>
> Later on will come more frustration . . . when attachments don't  
> come on and come off, programs don't behave or time starts to run  
> out. It is all part of the experience.
>
> What sounds like an enormous failure will become an extraordinary  
> learning experience and a lesson in persistence. I hope you enjoy  
> the journey as must as most of us here have.
>
> Don't hesitate to ask for help - there are tons of resources on the  
> web (official and unofficial). We are all in the same boat and the  
> success of one is a success for us all.
>
> Best of luck.
>
> Nari Narayanan
> McLean Robotics Institute
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
> From: Scott James <[log in to unmask]>
> Sender: First Lego League in Virginia and DC <[log in to unmask] 
> >
> Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:01:56 -0400
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> ReplyTo: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [VADCFLL-L] Robot to Build?
>
> Newby here with a basic question.  We have the board and all the  
> items built so making progress.  My son built the robot from the  
> instruction manual that came with the kit, 9797 in the lower right  
> hand cover of the instructions.  Then he decided to take it entirely  
> apart to take the batteries out to replace with the rechargeable  
> pack (not sure if it was necessary to take all apart but that was  
> what he decided to do).  Before he rebuilds it wanted to make sure  
> the correct design for the robot for this challenge was the 9797  
> build instructions.  Also, with whatever design we are supposed to  
> build, are we better off with the rechargeable battery pack installed?
>
> Thanks a lot for any input we can get on this,
> Scott James
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Jenifer Strozier-Potts
[log in to unmask]
804 928-2883


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