HD12: It's All Going Swimmingly

Greetings FIRST LEGO League Oregon,

In this update, you will find:

1. Links About Oregon Qualifying Tournaments
2. Robot Game Rule Advice from the Oregon Head Referee
3. Things about Qualifying Tournaments You Already Forgot (according to my Inbox)
4. Team Goals - NOVEMBER
5. Does Your Project Meet the FIRST Requirements?

Use this link to read this update as a blog post

Oregon Update: 12

Welcome to the official FIRST LEGO League Oregon Update. All Oregon FIRST LEGO League Coaches are automatically added to this list weekly! In each update, which you can read in an email or on our blog (cross-posted on both G+ and Facebook), you will find out what is happening in Oregon, the important things from Headquarters in NH, and tips to keep your team on track. This blog will be posted nearly weekly and all posts are archived. All official updates this season will be numbered HD# If you've missed an update, please read the archive to catch up!

1)  Links About Oregon Qualifying Tournaments

While I was unable to get any new communications out last week, I did get many websites back online for the teams. Please make sure you read these NEW pages. There have been changes, the content was completely re-written since last year. 

• Qualifying Tournament Judging Information
• Qualifying Tournament Robot Game Information
• Individual Tournament pages (coming this week) Will be linked from the Tournament Page

Documents You Want

• Team Introduction Page (Word Version)  - see the Judging Page for Information
• Team Introduction Page (PDF Version) - same as above
• Qualifying Tournament Award List
• Qualifying Tournament Coach Checklist
• Core Values Observation Policy

2)  Robot Game Rule Advice from the Oregon Head Referee

Thank you Oregon Head Referee Tom Mosher for providing this incite for all teams.

Warning: None of this material is an official ruling. See Rule GP5 (Information Superiority)

What’s in Base at the start of a match (11 objects)?

• New Pipe (two, blue) with one optional Loop
• Tripod
• Water Well
• Big Water (3)
• Slingshot (water purifier) w/ Dirty Water and Rain installed 

Rules Reminders

• Base and the three Target areas extend to their adjacent wall, even if there is a gap between the mat and the wall.
• (Summary of Robot Game Update 4 discussion) The black line that marks an area is included in the area. Example: one of the borders of Base is the outside edge of the black circular line. 
• A Target area includes the volume above the mat, not just the surface of the mat.
• Be careful that you understand the difference between “Completely In” and “In contact with”. “Completely In” usually refers to the entire volume of an area or Target. “In contact with” usually just refers to the surface of the mat. Read each mission rule carefully.
• For every Launch, the entire Robot (which includes any Equipment you have combined with it) must be Completely In Base. For example, nothing may overhang the inside edges of the walls around Base, or extend outside of the curved line on the mat. Update 8 does allow the attachments, models, or robot to use space over the walls on the return to Base only. 
• The Referees may stop any improper Launch, or may not allow any accomplishments made after an improper Launch.
• The Robot must be at most 12 inches tall for every Launch.
• You may receive up to six penalties for Interrupting the Robot. After six penalties, the match can continue with no additional penalties assessed.
• In Base before the match, the Slingshot with Rain and Dirty Water installed is considered one Mission Model. Teams may remove the Rain and Dirty Water from the Slingshot while in Base - R11 “Mission Model Handling” does not apply in this situation.
• Robot Game Update #1 (updated) Leniency for Rule R14 “Interrupting” while Transporting an object: “If you Interrupt the Robot while it’s Transporting something that came from Base during the most recent Launch, you may keep that thing.” (Updated the Leniency to cover not just mission models).

Want to see more of Tom's advice? Follow along daily with the November Mission Model Discussion on the blog at 4:30pm DAILY until Thanksgiving. 

Make sure your team is up to date on ALL FIRST LEGO League Game Updates. There were new updates last week!

Have a question for Tom? Make sure you have checked the Challenge Manual and Game Updates. Include any relevant sections of both in an email and send it to fll.rules.or@gmail.com

3)  Things about Qualifying Tournaments You Already Forgot (according to my Inbox)

All of these items have been in other newsletters. If you have read absolutely everything, this should be a review for you!

• New this year - All Oregon Qualifying Tournaments are on the same schedule! All tournaments have team check-in from 8 AM to 9 AM, Opening Ceremonies at 9 AM and competitions beginning at 9:30 AM. Closing Ceremonies will vary depending on the number of teams attending, but most should be near 4 PM with everything done by 5 PM
• ALL TEAM MEMBERS NEED TO BE PRESENT IN ALL ACTIVITIES ALL DAY. Parents and Supporters are encouraged to come and go throughout the day, the team and their coaches/chaperone need to stay all day. 
• The Robot Design Executive and the Core Values Poster are OPTIONAL but recommended. Both should take no more than 1-minute of the judging time (each) if used.
• The work on the robot and the project SHOULD ONLY be that of the team members, not coaches, mentors, or "alternates".  If an outside of the team members source provides ideas they should be counted as a reference and noted in the judging session.  This is also how to reference ideas gained from other teams and Youtube. 
• All events are free and open to the public for the robot game part of the competition. Most pits will be in secure areas. All judging rooms will be in a secure area.

4)  Team Goals - NOVEMBER

A bit late, but here are your November Team Goals. Since we are half-way through the month you

may see things that you've already checked off. Way to go team!

• Shared your project with an expert outside of your team. If you haven't done this, you are running out of time. More than one is better!
• Your team should be able to clearly identify the issue their project solves and what exactly is innovative about their solution in one sentence each. If it's not clear, try again! This is important to ensure your judges understand what you have accomplished and why it's needed. 
• Your solution should be one clear and connected idea. Still have disparate parts? It's time to combine and clarify!
• Your team should be actively using the FIRST Core Values in EACH team meeting. As the pressure increases Core Values may falter for new teams. Do not be scared to stop everything and take a Core Value refresher break. Make sure as a coach you are modeling core values at every meeting.
• Core Values Plan - If your team is making a Core Values Poster this will cover the same topics. Your team needs to have a rough idea of how they use Core Values in their team meetings and a plan for talking with this aspect with the judges. This is not a presentation, just preparation! It should not take more than an hour!
• If your team is nervous about Judging, practice having the team solve puzzles and riddles together for 3 minutes at team meetings. This is similar to the Core Values activity in the judging room and will build confidence. Not sure what to do? Search for minute games or kid riddles and you'll have many, many ideas!
• Your robot should have one mission that is reliable and works often. The team should have a second mission that works most of the time. The team should have a third mission started. If your team has more than this, make sure your project and core values are as advanced as your robot!  There is nothing wrong with setting it aside.
• Make sure the ENTIRE team knows which programs go with which missions and attachments. The ENTIRE team should also know how to put all of the attachments on the robot quickly. It is flu season and if you are all counting on one kid to be there, that's the one who will be sick.
• Have the team clean old unused programs off the robot. 
• Practice all three judging sessions by downloading the rubrics and assigning parents as volunteer judges. This is a great chance for parents to see the presentation!
• Practice running actual timed robot matches. Do not allow the table to be reset for mistakes. Make one student the timer. Say, "Three, Two, One, LEGO" and start the timer. At the end of 2.5 minutes stop the robot. Use the official score sheet to see how you do. What was hard? What worked well? What will you do when your robot fails a mission?  
• Practice with another team. If you have another team near you, see if you can borrow their robot game table, make sure your robot performs the same under different light settings. Remember all of the fields at the tournaments are BRAND NEW and have barely been unrolled, they will be ripply and not perfectly flat. Don't have another team? Roll your mat overnight or longer and reroll it the opposite direction it was before onto your table. Does your robot perform the same? What happens if the light level changes?
• Make sure you have read and applied all the UPDATES from FIRST

5) Does Your Project Meet the FIRST Requirements?

FIRST has some very specific requirements when it comes to determining a complete project. We've talked a lot about them this year, but every year teams show up at their Qualifying Tournament with an incomplete project, and then the team is not eligible for the project or champions awards nor advancement to the state championship. Even with all the hard work all teams put forward we know that no project nor robot is complete at the QualifyinTournamentnt, that's part of the point of the event, but there are certain things that do need to be done. 

FIRST states that a project is only eligible for awards if:

• The team members have Identified a problem that meets all of this year's criteria (including UPDATES). This should be clear and easy for the judges to understand when the team does their 5-minute presentation. 
• Explain their Innovative Solution. Not just what it is, but how it is innovative. Again this should be covered in the 5-minute presentation, but judges will often also ask follow-up questions about this to ensure they understand. 
• Describe how they shared with others (experts, people that can use the idea, community idea would impact) prior to the tournament. Coming up with an idea and keeping it in a closet does no good. Ideas are only useful when they are shared and feedback is given to the team. This has to happen before the tournament and should be included in the presentation also, share who and how sharing occurred with the judges.

There are some special updates I want to make sure all teams also understand. 

There are 4 updates just clarifying the definition of the Human Water Cycle. None of these updates are new (they've all been posted since October 19, 2017.) If your solution details current regular use events of the human water cycle, you shouldn't have a problem. If your solution involves floods, sea level rise, or severe weather events like hurricanes you will want to read all of the Project Updates carefully to make sure your project meets the requirement. 

NO FLUIDS IN THE JUDGING ROOM.

This update (Update 6) overrules the statement made in October that allowed teams to bring water in sealed containers. This is not ORTOP's rule, but FIRSTs. We are going to be enforcing it at the tournaments. If your team has made a filter that is in use, please dump all water and make sure it is dry as possible before coming into the judging room. If the filter itself is still damp despite not having water added recently that is ok. We do not want to see any fluids in Project Judging. 

Suggestions to show your project without fluids:

• Bring a video on a tablet to talk about while showing what your prototype would show. If you are talking or interacting it is still a live demonstration.
• Take photos! Show different water results with photos and graphs!
• Simulate - make solid water using hot glue or resin. Color a container with markers to reflect what the water would look like at that stage. 
• Make a dry model of your working prototype

There is a lot happening behind the scenes and on the ORTOP website to get your tournament up and running. I hope to send out more news soon. Please watch the website, Facebook, and your email. 

Best Wishes,

Loridee