The 2012 Senior Solutions Challenge is out now!

http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2012seniorsolutions

We will be going over both the research piece and the robot game on Friday.  Please take a look before then to become familiar with what it contains.  

By this point, each should should have talked to someone they know about aging.  This puts us a step ahead -- it's the first piece of the Project.  If you still need to take care of this, put your thinking caps on and get busy.  

Core values -- Each child has been assigned a core value to track through out the season.  Their first task is to illustrate the core value.  One team has also had the opportunity to set some team building goals working with Ms. Greenelsh on a schedule for team activities.  The other team will be doing this as well.

Challenge Milestones -- On Friday, teams took a first pass at setting goals and timelines for the season.  We will be working toward these and refining them as we progress.  

No practice (and no school) on Monday!

Thank you, Betsey Bent & Nancy Smith-Hunnicut!

On August 27th, Betsey Bent and Nancy Smith-Hunnicut from Mission Hospital's Senior Services Team came out for an interactive training with our teams.  They focused on creating an understanding of how age related conditions impact daily activities.  From picking out an outfit that matches, to typing shoes, to threading a needle and picking the right medications, the kids got some first hand experience with issues that many of us will face as we age.  

Thank you, Ms. Bent and Ms. Smith-Hunicut for so graciously sharing your professional knowledge with our teams!

Also from Friday...

While one team was with Robin, the other broke into small groups for a mini-course in programming the robot.  We went through the software basics, talked about figuring out the wheel diameter (by having the robot draw a line we could measure) and even squeezed in some information on turns.  For anyone who wants a review, these two links would make a great follow up:

• Three most common types of turns -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3hFuVPax-k 
• Move or Motor Block? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX4uhMqVQys&feature=channel&list=UL

Thank you, Robin Morrison!

On Friday, August 24th, Robin Morrison generously shared her time with the kids. Robin is an Occupational Therapist with an obvious passion for helping people -- particularly older people who struggle to continue being successful with the tasks they face in everyday life.  

Robin focused on broadening students ideas of aging and living as an elderly senior.  She led the students in several simulations that reflected the aging process, as well current adaptations/solutions seniors use for greater independence.  In one of the students’ favorite simulations, students were asked to try on ski gloves and try to perform a fine motor task such as buttoning a shirt or counting change.  This illustrated the limitations of arthritis. In another simulations students were asked to pinch their noses while eating a peppermint.  This illustrated the relationship between smell and taste, which are sense that fade with aging. These activities were a great way for students to begin to grapple with real challenges and solutions that affect the elderly, as well as making this year’s FLL challenge a more personal experience.  Robin did a session with each team.

Our teams have long appreciated Robin as a regular volunteer.  We're especially glad to be able to rely on her depth of professional knowledge as the kids pursue their Senior Solutions research this year!

Robot Research Questions

Here are the questions that should have come home with the kids on Monday for their robot research (links on the Helpful - Robot tab).

Turns -- Name the three types of turns, and provide a statement about when each turn is the most effective.

Attachments -- Chose three of the attachments listed on the blog.  Learn about how they work, and develop a real life application for these attachments (can you think of how they would be helpful to someone’s daily life?) 

Chassis -- A Chassis is the base of the robot.  Look at the PDF (page 26-30) and determine the two different types, and list the pro’s and cons of each.  Which Lego pieces are typically needed to build a chassis? 

Light Sensors -- What two types of light can a light sensor detect? Which type of light will we most likely be using in FFL?  On a Calibrated Scale what reading would you expect the color black to give?  White? 

First Practice!

We had a fantastic first practice today!

• We had the kids work through a team building exercise (put a towel on the floor and have them show you what they did). 
• We talked about core values, and each team member got a core value that they will help to keep track of throughout the season.  They need to find a way to illustrate the core value (drawing, picture, etc.).  We'll look at these on Monday.
• We started building the table pieces.
• We took a look at the mat and and some different robot builds. 
• We talked about different items to consider for the robot and the mission, and each team member came home with one to investigate before Friday (links are on the Helpful-Robot tab). 

 Team 4894:

Patrick	Attachments	We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
Sebastian	Attachments	We share our experiences with others.
Emma	Chassis/Body	What we discover is more important than what we win
Aaron	Chassis/Body	We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
Alex	Light Sensor	We are a team.
Lilith	Light Sensor	We have FUN!
Mo	Turns	We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
Pascale	Turns	We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.

Team 4892:

Blake	Attachments	We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
Ellie	Attachments	We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
Justin	Chassis/Body	We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
Jacob	Chassis/Body	We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
Anna	Light Sensor	We share our experiences with others.
Henry	Light Sensor	We have FUN!
Dominique	Turns	What we discover is more important than what we win
Sam	Turns	We are a team.

Don't worry, we'll have better names for the teams in the near future!  Team identity is one of those things the kids will work on together. 

Additionally, some kids took a bag with a game piece that needs to be built home.  If you didn't get one and want one, or if you want another one, let us know!

Anna – Pets for Help

Ellie – Table

Jacob – shopping

Blake – stove

Lillith/Alex – strength exercise

Thanks to everyone who brought in contracts and registration payments!  If you haven't please try to get those in on Friday!

Update from Class on Saturday

The coaches & their kids attended the first day of a two day training session at UNCA's Osher Life Long Learning Institute on Saturday.  Boy, was it a full day!

What we learned:

A fun an interesting way to figure out the diameter of your wheels:  Move forward a number of rotations and measure.  Figure out what you think it is, then test it against different numbers of rotations.  When you're getting a consistent measurement per rotation, that equals your wheel diameter.  Simple, enough, right?  In the end, more accurate than wrapping a tape measure around the tire, and a user-friendly way for a 4th grader to approach the geometry.

We learned that for turns, a combination of Motor blocks and an external rotation counter configured for one of the turning motors is more accurate and consistent than a move block.  Why?  Well, the motors are each controlled by their own blocks and the rotation counter is more precise than the motor block rotation -- which applies to and keeps up with the combined function of two motors at the same time.  You can learn more about the Move and Motor blocks here or here (note that this last one talks about the motor block on its own, without the external rotation counter).  

The basic idea is that you create two motor blocks that run infinitely, and configure each to do what that specific motor needs to do (different for each type of turn).  Then you use a reset and the external rotation counter (a sensor block for ONE of the motors) to tell the motor when to stop.  So, one specific sensor is controlling the stopping point, which is more precise than allowing either the move or motor block to say "when" (eliminating the overshooting or undershooting of rotations explained in the links above).  BUT, it only works if the two move blocks are infinite.  Why?  Because otherwise, they try to run sequentially and it messes the whole thing up.  

We learned about different types of turns.  This video did not come from the class, but is a good explanation of the three different types of turns that need to be considered.  We'll be looking at these and working on them as we work through our missions. 

The second session of the class is next week.  We'll be tackling sensors then, so stay tuned!

Thank you, Neil Rosenberg!

Teams 4892 and 4894 would like to thank Neil Rosenberg for his generosity in developing and teaching the Beginning NXT Programming course at UNCA's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.  

Neil is also the driving force behind the Robotics Opportunity Committee of Western North Carolina, an organization that provides leadership and support to FIRST teams of all varieties across our region.  

From the Official FLL Blog --Core Values, Flipped!

Comic strip of Flipped the robot and core values:
http://fllblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/the-core-values-get-flipped/

Robot for class at UNCA's Reuter Center

You can see the class information here.  It will be exciting to see who's there! 

Software!

Did you know that you can download the NXT software we will be using for FLL?  What a fantastic resource!  Check out this Lego Knowledge Base tip for the detail.  Windows or Mac, looks like you're covered

Technically, there's a minor difference between the linked version (2.0) and the version that came with the kits (2.1) but all of the features we'll use for FLL are in both, so the files can be shared.


Want a little more software goodness?  Check out the Lego Digital Designer.  It's CAD software for Legos!  You can install it and "build" virtual models with Legos.  Better yet, it installs with an NXT module, so the kids can check out all of the parts and build instructions that come with the kit.  Think about the possibilities -- They've been trying to work through something at practice, but it doesn't work to lug a box of parts and the robot home just now.  They can check what's available, test how different ideas work AND not make a mess all over the living room with little tiny connectors... SWEET!  There's also a Building Guide Mode that lets them print step-by-step instructions for what they designed -- They don't have to recreate it when they get to practice, they just follow their own directions!  (Did I mention they will be developing great skills in the process?)

Congratulations to Claxton's 2012 FLL teams!

We have the final list of students back from the selection committee and it looks like we will have great teams. Below are the important details we want you to know now, and we have a Parent Meeting planned for 5:00 on August 13th (the Monday before school starts) at school. We really need you there!

Key details:

• Practices will be Monday and Friday from 2:45 to 4:00. Students are expected to participate in all practices! The first practice will be Monday, August 20^th.
• There will be research and other tasks that the kids have to complete at home between practices. Teams depend on these tasks being completed to move forward, so we need a high level of commitment from each participant.
• We CANNOT make this work without parent involvement. We will have a volunteer schedule for signing up for the things that work best for you. You don't need to be an expert to be a critical success factor in supporting the teams. We need helping hands to keep kids on task, to wrangle siblings while practice happens, to provide snacks, etc. Of course, for those with skills to share in programming, design or with particular expertise related to the "Senior Solutions" theme, we appreciate those too!
• The tournament is Saturday, November 3rd at UNCA. It's an ALL DAY event and every kid needs to be there!
• Communication is a key factor in making this work. We have created a blog for the teams with resource links, and will be posting progress, assignments and other information there. We will ask parents to register to receive email updates from that site and to read and review new posts with your kids.
• There is a registration fee of $45 per participant. This is a small increase over last year. If it poses a hardship for anyone, please, please let us know and we'll make it work!

Between now and the first practice, we would like the kids to take a look at the Senior Solutions Challenge description. They should find one person to talk with about the issues and challenges aging people face. This means they can talk with an older family member or neighbor, they can talk to someone who works with the aging, or they can talk with you, their parents, about friends or relatives you know who deal with or have dealt with the challenges of getting old. This exercise will help teams establish a foundation for brainstorming when the time comes to start choosing what they will investigate for their research project.

We will be following this email with a phone call to make sure everyone is in the loop, knows about the parent meeting, knows what to expect and understands the commitment we need for the kids to be successful. If you have any questions, please let us know and we'll do our level best to get them answered.

We're looking forward to a fantastic and frenetic FLL season!

Field Kits have Arrived!

The field kits came in yesterday. Time to get the parts sorted and the mats unfurled!