Introduction

Welcome to the Saline FIRST Robotics community, and thank you for volunteering to coach a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge team. Coaching is a significant commitment, but we are confident that you will find it to be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. As FIRST co-founder Dean Kamen said, “We’re not building robots, we’re using robots to build kids.”

While our Saline FLL teams are often fiercely competitive, and enjoy a high degree of success at regional and state competitions, our primary goal is to teach children that they can achieve anything by identifying a meaningful problem, creating a solid plan, and working diligently with a dedicated team.

Central to the FLL experience are the FIRST Core Values. These values are the guiding principles that shape our program and are crucial for every team to embrace.

FIRST Core Values

  • Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
  • Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
  • Impact: We apply what we learn to improve our world.
  • Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
  • Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
  • Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!
  • Gracious Professionalism: We encourage high quality work, emphasize the value of others, and respect individuals and the community.

FIRST competition types

FIRST has several different types of competitions, and their similar naming can be confusing. Here's a quick overview of the distinctions in Michigan. Other states, and indeed, other nations, have different age ranges that are included in each competition.

  • FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Discover - Preschool
  • FLL Explore (FLL-E) - Kindergarten through 3rd grade
  • FLL Challenge (FLL-C) - 4th-5th grade
  • FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) - 6th-8th grade, no LEGO here
  • FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) - High school, big, fast, expensive robots

Saline's competition types

At Saline we currently have one FLL-E team, comprising 2nd and 3rd graders. We have four FLL-C teams, four FTC teams, and one FRC team.

FLL teams

The FLL team names are:

  • RoboBuzz (FLL-E)
  • RoboHornets
  • RoboSting
  • RoboHive
  • RoboSwarm