FLL 2015:The Tournament

Agenda

• Tournament overview• Tips and ideas• Q&A as we go along

Typical Tournament Schedule

• 7:30-8:15AM: team check-in; setup in the pit• 8:15AM: coach meeting• 8:30-11:30AM: closed judging sessions; robot

practice runs• 11:30AM: opening ceremonies• 12:00PM: lunch break• 12:30-3:30PM: robot competition• 4:00PM: awards process and closing ceremony

Team Check-in and the Pit

• Team check-in– Confirm team waivers (use TIMS)– Receive schedule for the day and pit passes

• The pit– Place for teams to work on robot, regroup, and

relax– Limited access: typically only team members and

two coaches– Practice tables and power are available

Coach Meeting

• Meet key officials: the tournament director, head judge, and head referee

• Answer any last minute questions• Review rule clarifications and robot game

updates

Morning: Closed Judging Sessions• Teams are required to make three presentations

– Project: research, innovative solution, sharing– Robot: robot design, run example mission– Core Values: judges get to know the personality of a team, mystery

activity• Presentations are closed to the public; the tournament director

may allow one or both coaches to attend and video record• The three presentations are typically scheduled 20-30 minutes

apart, so the morning moves quickly• Teams will usually be scheduled a practice run on a

competition table at some point during their morning

Late Morning: Opening Ceremonies

• Open to the public• Emcee introduces parade of teams,

tournament director, judges, referees, and distinguished guests

• Brief presentation and overview of the competition theme and robot table game for the benefit of the audience

Afternoon: Robot Competition• Each team has three rounds to run their robot missions• A team reports to the queuing area 5-10 minutes before its

schedule run• A run consists of one minute of setup and 2 ½ minutes of

running missions• During the run, only two team members (operators) may be at

the table; operators may switch out• Upon completion of the run, two operators remain at the

table to review the scoring with the referee while the rest of the team returns to the pit

• The team’s best score is used as their final score

Awards Process and Closing Ceremony

• Judge deliberations continue after the robot competition rounds complete: this is a good time to cleanup pit and load cars

• Emcee may provide some type of entertainment: provides a release after a long day

• Awards are presented at the Closing Ceremony and are based on the performance of a team in four areas:– Project presentation– Core values– Robot presentation– Robot mission table performance

Tips and Ideas

• Preparing for the tournament• During the tournament• What could go possibly wrong?

Preparing for the Tournament

• Attend the coach workshop• Project– Remember, only 5-10 minutes from start to finish:

small, succinct bites– Make it memorable: skit, song, etc.– Every team member should participate: one

technique is to rotate presentation lines among team members

– Use the rubrics as a presentation guide; address all scoring areas

Scoring Rubrics

Preparing for the Tournament (2)• Robot

– Attend the Rockwell team workshop (9/26)– Attend the Akron scrimmage (11/7)

• Don’t worry about not being prepared• Good experience to run robot on “foreign” mission table

– Two operators at the table with switch outs allowed– Review challenge rule updates every Friday

• Core values– Relate to life outside of FLL– Team building activities

• Meeting schedule and time management during the season: structured meeting and open lab

• Practice, practice, practice!

During the Tournament• Remember that the team is being judged all day• To sit in or not to sit in on the presentations• Keep the pit staffed in case of possible judge call-backs• Be efficient and organized in moving between presentations• Always transport the robot and attachments in a bin• Charge the robot battery while in the pit• Consider having snacks in the pit (granola bars, apples)• All non-operators should learn to review the competition table

setup• Remember the role of the coaches, especially during the robot

competitions

What Possibly Could Go Wrong?• Team presentations: practice speaking and answering questions in turn

instead of over top of each other• Core values: don’t stress about solving the mystery task; show how the team

works together in success and failure• Robot competition: remember there are three attempts at the table; regroup

and retry• Competition table setup issue: one of the operators should politely request

referee to address issue (team should not touch models)• Scoring discrepancy at the table: two operators should discuss and resolve

with the referee (not the coaches)• Scoring discrepancy with the scoreboard: one or two teams members should

request a review with the head referee of the scoring sheet with the scoreboard entry (not the coaches)

• Above all: Gracious Professionalism and Have Fun!