2010 FLL Challenge Body Forward

Can FIRST® LEGO® League Teams improve our quality of life? Through the 2010 Body Forward&trade Challenge, 9 to 14 year olds will explore 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.

2009 Wyoming FLL Awards

The 2009 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship award winners

Event Photos
Team Pictures

Champions Award
1st Place: Never Sweat Bots - Dubois
2nd Place: Technical Difficulties - Jackson (Jackson Hole Middle School)
3rd Place: Robots-R-Us - Big Piney/LaBarge

Robot Performance Award
1st Place: NXT Generation of Eagles - Gillette
2nd Place: Robots-R-Us - Big Piney/LaBarge
3rd Place: Blazin Bandits - Buffalo (Clear Creek Middle School)

Creative Presentation Award
1st Place: Blue Moon Robo Riders - Clearmont (Arvada/Clearmont Elementary)
2nd Place: Pinedale Gladiators - Pinedale
3rd Place: Big Brains - Evansville (Evansville Elementary)

Innovative Solution Award
1st Place: Transportation T.I.G.E.R.S. - Lusk (Lusk Elementary/Middle School)
2nd Place: Incredibots Force 10 - Thermopolis (Lights on Afterschool Program)
3rd Place: LC4H Robot Royality - Cheyenne (Laramie County 4-H)

Research Quality Award
1st Place: Automaton Lords of Laramie - Laramie (Laramie Area Progressive Homeschoolers)
2nd Place: Flying Monkeys - Casper (Casper Classical Academy)
3rd Place: STARS - Casper (St. Anthony's Tri-Parish School)

Teamwork Award
1st Place: Cyclonic Robots - Casper (CY Junior High)
2nd Place: LEGO Dragons - Casper (Crest Hill Elementary)
3rd Place: ThermopSEEK - Thermopolis (Ralph Witters Elementary)

Robot Design Award
1st Place: Laser Blazers - Casper (Oregon Trail Elementary)
2nd Place: Wolverines - Evanston (Evanston Middle School)
3rd Place: Terabyte Tigers - Casper (Paradise Valley Elementary)

Judges' Award
Transbots - Casper (Woods Learning Center)

Rookie Team Award
Super Nova Destruction - Green River

Team Spirit Award
Roboxsters - Guernsey

Adult Mentor Award
Rick Sanchez - Buffalo

Young Adult Mentor Award
Sean Cometto - St. Anthony STARS

Outstanding Volunteer Award
Cathy Bisiar - Natrona County Schools
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Jr. FIRST LEGO League Expo Awards
Jr. FLL is a robotics program for students 6 to 9 years old

Amazing Movement Award - Southridge Scientists (Southridge)
Gracious Professionalism Award - LEGO Dragons (Crest Hill)
Complexity and Decoration Award - We like to move it, move its (Paradise Valley)
Most Explosive Award - Big Brains (Evansville)
Robust Design Award - Starbots (Sagewood)
Construction Innovation Award - RoboTots (Bar Nunn)
Teamwork Award - Team Midwest (Midwest)
Inquiring Minds Award - Machine Warlocks (Woods)
Out of the Box Award - Movin' and Grovin' (Park)
Master Builders Award - NanoKings (Verda James)

2009 Wyoming FLL Award Pictures

Wyoming FLL Championship Today

The Wyoming FLL Championship is underway. Here is today's schedule.
• 7:00 AM Team Registration Opens
• 8:00 AM FLL Judging Begins
• 9:30 AM Jr. FLL Expo Registration Begins
• 10:00 AM Jr. FLL Expo
• 11:30 AM Lunch Break
• 12:15 PM FLL Opening Ceremony including Jr. FLL Expo awards
• 1:00 PM Robot Rounds
• 5:00 PM Closing Ceremonies (Award/Trophy presentations)

Wyoming FLL Setup

Guest Speaker and Practice Rounds Tonight

The Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship events begin tonight at 6:00 p.m. with the Special Presentation by John Wright of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Robot practice rounds will begin at 7:15 p.m.

2009 Wyoming FLL Championship Schedule

Casper Events Center
Friday, December 4th (6:00 - 8:30 p.m.)
• 6:00 PM Special Guest Speaker John Wright; NASA JPL – Robot Driving
• 7:15 PM Practice Round (1 hour 15 minutes)
Saturday, December 5th (7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
• 7:00 AM Team Registration Opens
• 8:00 AM FLL Judging Begins
• 9:30 AM Jr. FLL Expo Registration Begins
• 10:00 AM Jr. FLL Expo
• 11:30 AM Lunch Break
• 12:15 PM FLL Opening Ceremony including Jr. FLL Expo awards
• 1:00 PM Robot Rounds
• 5:00 PM Closing Ceremonies (Award/Trophy presentations)

Special Guest Speaker

To Kickoff the 2009 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship we will have a Special Guest Speaker, John Wright, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. He will be speaking on Friday Evening, December 4th, at 6:00 p.m. prior to the practice robot rounds. I have attached a flyer you can use to promote the event. All Wyoming FLL teams and the general public are invited to attend this high interest presentation. The session should help students on all of our Wyoming FLL teams to experience additional real world application of robotics technology.

(click image to download PDF Flyer)

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Presents -
Special Guest Speaker:
John Wright
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Topic:
Robot Driving Experiences at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission has been operating two rovers on the red planet for almost six years. The two autonomous robots have collected over 200,000 images and analyzed hundreds of soil and rock locations on opposite sides of Mars. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed ExtraTerrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) robots are being developed and their capabilities tested for supporting future manned exploration of the Moon and Mars. These teleoperated robots present a different driving challenge from MER. This talk will describe experiences driving the MER rovers since landing and the ATHLETE robots here on Earth during recent field trials.

Friday, December 4, 2009
6:00 PM
Casper Events Center
Doors open at 5:00
This event is FREE and open to the general public.

Wyoming FLL Hotel

Hi Wyoming FLL Community,

The Best Western Ramkota Hotel has been selected as our Wyoming FLL Housing partner for the 2009 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship. They have reserved a block of 100 rooms for our event at a rate of $70 per night plus tax (if applicable). To receive this rate you will need to book your room(s) prior to November, 27th 2009. [Teams may choose alternate hotel accommodations of their preference as well.]

To make your reservations use the information below and indicate you are with the Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship.

Best Western
Ramkota Hotel
800 North Poplar
Casper, WY 82601
(307) 266-6000
fax: (307) 473-1010

HOTEL AMENITIES:
• 229 beautifully appointed guest rooms; featuring pillow-top mattresses,
• coffee makers, irons and full-sizeironing boards, blow dryers, phones, voice messaging, desk and work area,complimentary high speed wireless internet throughout the entire hotel,pillow-top mattresses
• Castaway Bay water playland
• 13,000 square feet of meeting and function space, which breaks into 13 separate meeting rooms of various configurations. All rooms are equipped with complimentary wireless high speed internet access
• 24 hour facsimile service and photocopy service
• Security key-card entry system
• Express check-out
• Remington’s Restaurant and Spirits Lounge
• Cardio-vascular Work-Out facility
• Free airport shuttle
• Free in town shuttle

Inclement Weather Policy

The Wyoming FLL Championship is a 'Rain or Shine' event. Well, in December, in Wyoming, it is really a 'Snow or Shine' event. Meaning that we do not have the ability to reschedule the event if there are poor road/travel conditions around the state. We are hoping for good weather, but we all know how it is in Wyoming (keep your fingers crossed that it will be a nice weekend). We will run the event with the teams that are present.

Final travel decisions will need to be made by each parent/coach/team with priority consideration given to child/team safety.

Volunteers Needed

Click Here to complete Volunteer Registration Form

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship (FLL) is back for its Fourth year! Wyoming FLL robotics competition continues to grow and will include 60 teams from around the state. The 2009 Championship will be held at the Casper Events Center on December 4th and 5th.

In order for this event to be successful, we need MANY volunteers. We need Adult volunteers to Judge and Referee. Judge Volunteers work in pairs to evaluate teams in one of three areas; Research Project, Robot Design, or Teamwork. Referees manage the the action during the Robot Game, and record the score for each round. In addition, we need volunteers to help with the competition in general; team runners, field reset, pit tables, etc. Individuals interested in being a volunteer can sign up by completing the Volunteer Registration Form (link at the beginning of this post).

IMPORTANT DATES
Judge Training (must attend one) - Tuesday, November 10 OR Monday, November 16, 6:00-7:30 PM at Fairgrounds Center, 2000 Casper Street (Room 104)

Referee Training (must attend one) - Tuesday, November 17 OR Thursday, November 19, 6:00-7:30 PM at Casper College Energy Institute (Room 125)

GENERAL VOLUNTEERS:
We are in need of volunteers for various jobs the day of the event. You can volunteer for a few hours or the whole day. You will find it to be a very rewarding experience contributing to the youth of Wyoming.

REWARDS:
No matter what volunteer role you choose, you will be provided with a free t-shirt, access to the volunteer hospitality room, and our sincere thanks. Most importantly, you will get to enjoy watching the teamwork, camaraderie, craftsmanship, learning, and team spirit provided by the fine students of Wyoming.

Wyoming FLL Championship Event - Friday and Saturday, December 4th and 5th at the Casper Events Center, specific time will be determined by job.

Last Call for Teams

Update: Registration for the 2009 Smart Move Season is now closed (10/5/2009)

Last call to register a team. The FIRST LEGO League team registration system will close on Monday, October 5th. There are now over 8,000 teams registered in North America. If you plan on registering a team for the 2009 Smart Move FLL Season please do so as soon as possible. Smart Move Team Registration site: http://gofll.usfirst.org

2009 Smart Move KickOff

Registration Filling Quickly - Register this Week

Teams wanting to register for this year's FLL Smart Move season are encouraged to register soon. North American team registrations are coming in fast (over 100 today). I am not sure what the limit is but registration will close when the limit is met. If you want to participate this year I would encourage you to register this week.

To register your team proceed to the FIRST LEGO League registration site: https://gofll.usfirst.org/

Wyoming FLL Smart Move KickOff

Wyoming FLL will host a State-Wide KickOff of the 2009 Smart Move season on Thursday, September 3rd, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

The KickOff will take place at Casper College, Energy Institute room 100.

The KickOff will cover this year's Research Project and the Robot Challenge Field.

Please let us know if you plan on attending by providing your contact information HERE.

2009 Smart Move Team Flyer

Hi Wyoming FLL Coaches,

Here is a flyer that you can use to advertise your FIRST LEGO League Team for the 2009 Smart Move season.

Click on the image to download a PDF version of the Flyer. If it opens in your browser you can instead "Right-Click" (control-click on Mac) and use the "save link" option.

Oregon Trail Laser Blazers go on PBS 'WY Field Trip'

Excerpt from natronaschools.org article by Jenni Luckett

Members of Oregon Trail Elementary Schools’ FIRST LEGO League Robotics team headed into the field to study wind farms – and they’re taking other Wyoming students along for the ride.

The students were the first in the state to participate in a new Wyoming PBS project called WY Field Trip. The project takes a small group of students on a field trip while videotaping their experiences. The video, along with a variety of other resources such as a glossary, teacher tools, related links and quick facts, go up on the Wyoming PBS Web site so that other students in other schools can take a “virtual” version of the trip.

WY Field Trip - Wind Farms Website
Full Article

Wyoming Rookie Team Grants

FIRST LEGO League has awarded a $2000 FIRST Growth grant to Wyoming FLL. The grant is intended to help grow and expand FLL in Wyoming. The Wyoming FLL planning team has determined that we will use the growth grant to reimburse the $200 FLL Registration fee for 10 Rookie teams. Please read below for details.

Number of Grants: Wyoming FLL has ten (10) - $200.00 grants that will be awarded to ten (10) Wyoming Rookie Teams.

Grant Eligibility Requirements:
1) Teams applying for the grant must be a 'rookie' team. Rookie means that the 2009 Smart Move season will be the team's first FLL season. This would not include sites that had a team last year and reform annually to have a team in 2009 with differing members/team name, sorry.
2) Teams must attend AND compete in the 2009 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship to be held on December 4th and 5th, 2009 at the Casper Events Center. Grants funds will be distributed AFTER the competition.
3) Teams must submit an invoice for $200.00 to NCSD after Dec. 5th, 2009

Grant Selection Criteria:
The first 10 teams registered in the FIRST LEGO League registration system (https://gofll.usfirst.org) AND meet the above eligibility requirements will receive the $200 grant. [Since the registration assigns team numbers sequentially, we will award the 10 teams that meet all eligibility requirements and have the lowest team number.]

Grant Application:
Please fill out the following survey to apply: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=b3e5EpxTsW_2bi8VWAqkVzvQ_3d_3d

If you have any questions please feel free to email them to me.

2009 Wyoming FLL Coaches Clinic

Wyoming FLL will be hosting a FREE coaches clinic on June 8th, 2009 at Casper College. The training will be open for all those interested in Wyoming FIRST LEGO League. The clinic is geared toward the entire Wyoming FIRST LEGO League coaching community.

The Registration link is now closed to collect the information for those that will be receiving the FREE Coaching materials. You are still welcome and encouraged to attend, you just won't get the FREE Stuff. Please email Jeff Brewster (jeff_brewster@ncsd.k12.wy.us) if you would like to attend the clinic on June 8th.

Tentative Schedule

• 8:00 - 8:30 am Breakfast items & Coffee
• 8:30 - 9:30 am General Session: Overview of Wyoming FLL
• 9:30 - 9:45 am Break
• 9:45 - 10:45 am Breakout Session 1 (1 hour)
• 10:50 - 11:50 pm Breakout Session 2 (1 hour)
• 12:00 - 12:30 pm Lunch (provided)
• 12:30 - 2:30 pm Breakout Session 3 (2 hours)
• 2:30 - 3:30 pm Breakout Session 4 (1 hour)

Potential Breakout Topics:

• Robot Design (get insights from World Festival robot designs)
  
• FLL Registration System & FLL Community Site
  
• Starting & Mentoring a FLL Team
• Research Project/Judging
• Basic NXT programming
• Intermediate NXT programming
• Competition Day (what to expect)

Casper College
Energy Institute
Room 100
See you in June!

2008 Wyoming FLL Championship Video

2008 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship
Video shot and produced by Natrona County High School NCTV students with assistance of their teacher Lance Madzey. Wyoming FLL Special Guests; U.S. Senator John Barrasso, U. S. Senator Mike Enzi, Dan Stiehl from the MIT Media Labs Personal Robotics Group, and of course the teams of children from around Wyoming.

2009 Season Registration Open

Registration for the 2009 Smart Move FLL Season is now open. Please go to the FLL registration system (https://gofll.usfirst.org/) to sign up.

2009 Smart Move

2009 Smart Move Teaser

Can FIRST LEGO League teams transform the way we look at transportation? The key to the 2009 “Smart Move” Challenge is accessing people, places, goods and services in the safest, most efficient way possible. In this journey, teams will consider many modes of transportation beyond their daily routine and streamline their options by making smart moves!

2009 Smart Move Season Schedule

2009 Smart Move Pricing