 Pleasantville, NY – Pace University will host the Lower Hudson “FIRST LEGO League” (FLL) robotics tournament for 9 to 14-year-olds this Sunday, February 10, 2008.
For ages 6 to 9, on the same day, Pace will also host the 3rd annual Junior “FIRST LEGO League” (JFLL) non-competitive Expo, which this year is expected to attract 14 teams.
FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
Supported by Pace University, 20 teams of 9 to 14 year olds from the Lower Hudson Valley area will come together at Pace University’s Pleasantville campus for a day of racing robots.
The championship team will compete in the Japanese International Invitational in April.
Pace students and faculty members from the University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems are among the organizers and volunteers.
Date: Sunday, February 10
Time: 8:30am - 3:00pm
Location: Goldstein Health and Fitness Center, Pace University, Pleasantville Campus, 861 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY, entrance 3
The schedule for the FIRST LEGO League tournament for 9 to 14-year-olds is as follows:
8:30-9:30 Registration
9:30-12:00 Judging (FLL) – Kessel Student Center
12:00-1:00 Parade of Teams– Goldstein Fitness Center
1:00-2:30 Robot Performance (FLL) – Goldstein Fitness Center
3:00 Awards (FLL) – Goldstein Fitness Center
The Junior FIRST LEGO League Expo schedule is as follows:
9:30-10:15 Registration
10:15-12:00 Team Showcase – Gottesman Room, Kessel Student Center
12:00-1:00 Parade of Teams (FLL and JFLL) and JFLL Awards – Goldstein Fitness Center
In addition to Pace’s Seidenberg computing school, the approximately 100 volunteers will come from Pace students, staff, and faculty members, and industry professionals.
The FLL theme for this year is Power Puzzle, which is about understanding the elements of energy use in a world where people use more energy every day. The Power Puzzle missions get FLL teams to consider the energy choices available and how those choices affect the world. The teams are challenged to find practical solutions in their communities while considering the impacts their actions or inactions can have on their lives and the world. As they work to make the puzzle pieces fit, they must consider all parts of energy use, including how energy is made, stored, used and consumed, and how resulting waste is disposed of.
Beginning in the fall, participating groups met weekly to build and program their robots for the competition. At the tournament, the robots will perform tasks at a station made out of LEGOS. The challenges include putting solar panels on a house roof and moving wind turbines.
The teams will present their energy solution projects and be judged by a panel on effectiveness, design and teamwork.
The FIRST organization was founded by inventor Dean Kamen to get children interested in and excited by technology. The FLL robotic competitions have become internationally recognized. A partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Company resulted in the formation of FIRST LEGO League (FLL) in 1998.
The pilot year had 200 teams participating. This year, nine years after the initial tournament, there are over 8000 teams internationally.
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