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Originally Posted by iCurtis
I started out my FIRST career as a “lego kid” in 2001 during the FIRST Lego League challenge “Arctic Impact”. It was a good time, we had our ups and downs as a team, and best of all we made it past the sweet sixteen and ended up one barrel off (they were a scoring object) the great eight.
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You missed Volcanic Panic? That was the first more-or-less "national" release for FLL - there were pilots for two years before - although only 20 teams were invited to Disney for an exhibition. Back then, you had to have woodworkers to build your table fixtures, not all made out of LEGO's like today.
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Long story short, we raised the money to go down to Houston, Texas for the nationals. Back then the FLL invitational was more of a side show to the FRC pits.
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I can only vaguely remember the Maine team at Houston - what was your team name? Do you remember the Dragon Devils from Michigan?
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We competed in the FLL invitational and didn’t do so hot. Our robot despite one perfect run performed worse than the regional. But I had fun.
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City Sights was fun. Dragon Devils didn't do so well on the table (did give the "froot loops" to the IL team to give them a perfect winning score, though). DD's strength had traditionally been in project presentation.
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Then I saw my first matches. The invitational had ended and my dad really wanted to see the big boy compete.
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That was a problem in Houston - you never got time to go over from the 'Dome to Reliant to see the FRC. Much better in Atlanta - although you still don't get a lot of time to see things until FLL is complete.
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Fast forward one last time. In preparation for the research assignment of “Mission Mars” the 2003 FLL game, we went to a local plant to talk to the plant manager about how robots were used.
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Mission Mars was so unique in that the Rovers were going to Mars then (and were driving around by the time of the International). We'll always have a fond spot in our hearts for Spirit and Opportunity. And the awesome Cornell video, especially the bounce landing.
I have been impressed how much more technically advanced FLL has become, especially over the last 3 years or so. Earlier competitions, you could score a large number of points by simply following the "bump and grab" stategy. Later games have become much more sophisticated.
I'll be reffing at a Michigan regional on Saturday. Curtis, are you mentoring any FLL teams now?