FLL offseason task?

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by StevenB

Robot sumo. It looks simple, but the autonomous behavior can get pretty complex. You also have to think about details such as how to get the best speed and traction you can with a limited set of parts.
Google around for videos and rules.

I second this one. We started sumo with our FLL teams after the Body Forward season was over; the kids are having a blast. As are our high school FRC mentors (and a certain adult mentor, who shall remain nameless) .

The build isn't necessarily simple; you can use some pretty complex features. There's a LOT you can do with programming. Unfortunately, multi-tasking with NXT-G isn't pleasant, but it can be done.

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by Jaxom

I second this one. We started sumo with our FLL teams after the Body Forward season was over; the kids are having a blast. As are our high school FRC mentors (and a certain adult mentor, who shall remain nameless) .

The build isn't necessarily simple; you can use some pretty complex features. There's a LOT you can do with programming. Unfortunately, multi-tasking with NXT-G isn't pleasant, but it can be done.

I'd qualify the sumo choice for the case of an older FLL team. The presence of FRC-aged mentoring will help immensely with the building and programming nuances involved in robo-sumo competition. The game requires a special playing field/board too.

The most satisfying part about your post is that your FRC team apparently understands the value of a "farm team" approach to sustainability. They seem to know whence cometh replacement FRC team members.

[ThirteenOfTwo]

Find one of the internet's NXT Bluetooth Remotes, run off of PS2 controllers, and recruit future drivers. I was the TA for a summer robotics class and I had the students play a teleop game with the balls that come in the NXT kits; they had a blast.

The game itself was fairly simple and made using nothing but cardboard boxes, an FLL board, and some textbooks. Arrange the balls in the center of the field. Place the textbooks the short way across the field, about a foot from the end, and use the cardboard to make a ramp from partway between the books and the middle of the field up to the books themselves. In the exact center of the field, use painter's tape to make a small box. The goal is to retrieve the balls from the middle and dump them over the edge of the textbooks into a goal zone. At the end, any robot in the center box receives bonus points, creating pseudo sumobot. You can add an autonomous period if you like.

It's fun, it recruits drivers, and it has the added bonus of teaching the kids how to build the FLL cage, which is among the most commonly used of all FLL manipulators.