Rhode Island First Lego League Robotics Championship Tournament

The tenth annual RI First Lego League (FLL) Robotics Championship Tournament took place on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at Roger Williams University. FLL is an international robotics competition. Each year the RISF facilitates the RI state championship tournament. In this event, 9-14 year olds are given the opportunity to build a robot and compete in a friendly, FIRST-style robotics event. The FLL Challenge engages students in an intense 2 - 3 month period of robotic design and programming as well as scientific research. This work culminates in an exciting tournament atmosphere where teams compete in a head to head Robotics Challenge, present their robots and programs to a group of Technical Judges, and present their Research Projects to a group of Presentation Judges. Additionally they will be meeting with a panel of Teamwork judges who will look at their style of teamwork and team approach to the challenge.

Fifty-eight teams competed in the 2010 Challenge titled 'Body Forward'. Through the 2010 Body Forward™ Challenge, FLL teams explored the cutting-edge world of Biomedical Engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the body's potential, with the intended purpose of leading happier and healthier lives.

This year the Rhode Island Junior First Lego League Expo will be held on April 2, 2011 at Robotics Park. (JFLL) JFLL is a program geared towards 5 - 9 year olds. They will be working on a project that will align with the FLL Body Forward theme. Like the older students in FLL, these teams will exploration of the world of biomedical engineering. JFLL teams from RI and neighboring states are participating in the Expo.

For more information about Rhode Island FLL or if you would like information about volunteering or being a judge for next year's tournament please contact: Rebekah Gendron at: gendronrj@yahoo.com.

The RI FLL Robotics competition is a free event open to the public. Next year's opening ceremonies and competition will begin at approximately 11:00 a.m.

For more information about FIRST and FLL go to: https://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/Default.aspx

For directions and times for this event, please refer to our News page.

Tournament Update:

Congratulations to the 2010 RI FLL Champions Award Winners:

S.M.A.R.T. (St. Mary's Academy Robotics Team)

Coached by: Linda Grasso and Erica Cross