Updated: Last updated: November 12, 2014 at 17:34 pm

On this page we keep links and references to various North Texas FIRST LEGO League competition resources, to make them easy for us and others to locate quickly later.  Where possible we try to link directly to official pages and notifications; but we’re definitely not the official source for any of this.  If in doubt — double check the official sources!

Feel free to suggest additional links or resources that should appear here, or to let us know of errors or things that shouldn’t be here.

North Texas regional competition resources:

• Google Groups northtexasfll mailing list
• FLL World Class home page, Judging Rubrics
• Perot Museum FLL page
• UTD SEEC
• FLL Core Values
• Coaches Clinics notes and slides:
  • Beginning Programming Clinic (Oct 18, Oct 25)
  • Advanced Programming Clinic (Oct 18, Oct 25)
  • UME Chassis and attachments tips (Oct 11)
  • FCA team dynamics and strategy (Oct 4)
  • UTD Building Guide (Oct 4)

Calendar of upcoming events:

• Nov 14, 2014: Registration opens for Dec 6 qualifiers (10:00a-4:00p)
• Dec 6, 2014: North Texas Regional Qualifiers
  • Fellowship Christian Academy, Dallas (south)
  • UME Preparatory Academy, Dallas (south)
  • University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
• Dec 13, 2014: North Texas Regional Qualifiers
  • Parish Episcopal School, Dallas (north)
  • Nolan Catholic High School, Fort Worth
  • Trinity High School, Euless
  • Advanced Technology Complex, Denton
• Feb 14, 2015: Regional Championship, Parish Episcopal School

EV3 sets and other LEGO parts:

• LEGO Education (http://legoeducation.us/) – an alternate source of LEGO pieces and EV3 sets
  • EV3 Core Set with Software Pack
  • EV3 Expansion Set
  • LEGO Spare Parts and Accessories
• BrickLink (http://bricklink.com) – an online marketplace connecting LEGO buyers and sellers
  • Motorcycle wheels (part 2903c01)
  • 62.4 x 20mm wheels
    • Hub (part 32020)
    • Tire (part 32019)

What are the Coach Clinics?

• These are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED workshops held on Saturdays throughout September and October where different topics will be covered each session (see above for descriptions).
• Clinics are lead by experts in everything FLL, including team management, robot building and programming, and how to do what your team will need to do to participate in official events.
• One or two coaches/mentors and one team member are allowed to attend the clinics. If possible, the team member should be a key member who is responsible for what topic is being covered in the session he/she is attending.

Useful online resources:

• Online scoring app at FLLTournament.com (click on “2014 – FLL World Class” to reach scoring app)
• TechBrick FLL Resources page

Suggested hashtag for tweets, photos, and resources: #northtexasfll

Books and other helpful resources:

•  Winning Design!: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Design Patterns for Fun and Competition

Events already occurred:

• Sep 20 (1:00p): FLL Coach Kickoff @ UT Dallas, Science Learning Center Auditorium
  • (after kickoff) UTD Coaches’ Clinic — Intro to Game Strategy and Team Dynamics
  • Campus map
  • Parking: Any GREEN spot
• Oct 4 (10:00a): FLL Coach Kickoff @ Fellowship Christian Academy
  • (after kickoff, finished by 4:00p) FCA Coaches’ Clinic — Intro to Game Strategy and Team Dynamics
  • Campus map
• Oct 4 (1:00p-4:00p): UTD Coaches’ Clinic — Technic Parts and Chassis building
  • Campus map — Note building change to FO 2.208!
• Oct 11 (9:00a-12:00p): UME Prep Academy Coaches’ Clinic — Chassis and Attachments
• Oct 18 (9:00a-12:00p): UTD Coaches’ Clinic — Beginning Programming
• Oct 18 (1:00p-4:00p): UTD Coaches’ Clinic — Advanced Programming
• Oct 25 (9:00a-11:30a): UME Prep Academy Coaches’ Clinic — Beginning Programming
• Oct 25 (1:00p-4:00p): UME Prep Academy Coaches’ Clinic — Advanced Programming
• Nov 1 (1:00p-4:00p) : UTD Coaches’ Clinic — Attachments and tournament preparation
• Nov 8: Open scrimmage at Fellowship Christian Academy
• Nov 8: UTD scrimmage at Microsoft Store

Other items:

• Welcome email from Kristi Cantu @ Perot Museum, 2014-08-19
• Workshop schedule email from Kristi Cantu @ Perot Museum, 2014-08-26

What is Coach Kickoff?

(from Kristi Cantu @ Perot Museum)

• These are introductory meetings/presentations where we go over everything you’ll need to know about participating in FLL this season.
• There are two Coach Kickoffs–each coach/mentor only needs to go to one, AND IT DOESN’T MATTER WHICH ONE. ROOKIE AND VETERAN COACHES ARE WELCOME AT BOTH (disregard the earlier info about separate ones).
• These are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, especially for new coaches/mentors.
• We will go over exactly how the events and competitions run (rules, policies, what to expect), and there will be Robot Game tables and fields set up with our awesome experts there to explain the Robot Game missions and rules.
• It’s a great opportunity to meet the North Texas FLL community, get your questions answered in person, and figure out exactly what will be happening for us this season…also we’ll feed you…