Tournament Registration
Teams for both FLL Challenge and FLL Explore must register for a tournament in order to participate. The registration this year will most likely open in mid-October. Only teams registered with F.I.R.S.T. for this season may register for a tournament or Expo.
Registration is purely on a first-come-first-serve basis. Teams must select an available tournament and register for that event.
The following relates to FIRST LEGO League Challenge
Demonstrating FLL Core Values
At tournaments it is expected that all teams and coaches will demonstrate the FLL Core Values. Behavior that does not meet these standards can result in teams being deemed ineligible for awards or advancement. This is a message that FIRST has been very clear about. As an example, FIRST described a situation where a team was in line for an award when one of the officials observed a member of the team punch another member of the team in the pit areas. The team was immediately disqualified from receiving any awards.
At Hudson Valley FIRST LEGO League we allow coaches and families to observe judging of their team. The value of this has been demonstrated time and again as I have stood outside of a judging room as a team completes judging, and I hear parents make comments like "I never knew my kid could do that", or "I have never seen Mary so comfortable speaking in front of a crowd". I like to think that we have just built a new bridge between the parent and child in those situations. It is important, however, to know a few simple rules:
Observers may only be those directly connected with the team being judged. This is to ensure fairness so that teams are not allowed to get advance insight into specific questions the judges may be asking, or like information. There may be special circumstances where HVFLL will allow the press, sponsors, or special dignitaries to observe judging in order to better understand the program.
Observers are expected to arrive and take up their positions before the judging begins, and remain there throughout the judging in order to not distract the team or judges.
Observers must remain quiet, and not interact with the team in any way during the judging. Be aware that there is someone in the room specifically watching for such interactions, and if observed, the judges will be informed after the team leaves the room, and this could impact the scoring.
Thank you for your cooperation in these matters. We want this to be a positive experience for everyone involved.
Rubrics
Judges use forms provided by F.I.R.S.T., called rubrics, in their scoring of teams. The rubrics contain specific things that the judges are expected to look for, and a rating system that gauges how well a team demonstrates each of these aspects. Teams have access to these rubrics early in the season so they know what to expect.
Judging
If it has been a while since your team last competed, there have been changes to the judging process.
Judging for the 3 areas of Research Project, Robot Design, and Core Values are together in a single session.
Starting this year, the Research Project and Robot Design are specifically addressed by the judges, with Core Values integrated across the other two areas.
Teams will receive a single rubric for each of the areas as well as a sheet with written feedback.
For Research Project, teams should be prepared to discuss the problem or challenge they are addressing, how they settled on that challenge, as well as explaining the work they did to come up with their proposed solution. It is also expected that teams will discuss how they shared their ideas with others.
Though we no longer require a Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES), it is strongly suggested that the teams prepare for the Robot Design portion of the judging session. We are not necessarily talking about a PowerPoint presentation or a poster. The team should use this time to introduce themselves, their robot, and their robot-related work to the judges.
Far too many times in the past, I have stood outside of the judging rooms as teams are leaving the session, and heard a team member say "... but they never asked me about this really cool arm". The idea behind the RDES is to give the teams an opportunity to talk about everything they think the judges should know about their work.
The types of things the team can explain in this section are above and beyond what the judges might "know" to ask them. That is why this is such an important part of our program.
Our recommendation is that the teams discuss what information they want to convey, and spend some time practicing how they will conduct themselves during this time.
Remember that the more good information the team conveys during this time, the better the judges can make use of their time to ask the questions necessary to evaluate the team.
It is generally expected that the teams will bring print-outs of their programs to leave with the judges. This will help the judges better understand the types of program skills the team is using.
Remember that the judging rooms no longer have a Robot Game competition table, so the team must rely on other means to explain what their robot is capable of doing.
Awards and Advancement
The awards and advancement policy of Hudson Valley FIRST LEGO League reflects the policies of F.I.R.S.T.. The goal is to distribute awards to recognize teams with the largest number of teams with the most appropriate award. The intent behind this is to ensure that one team does not leave the tournament with all of the awards. There are awards for:
Tournament Champion - The eligible* team that does the best overall across all areas of judging, including Project, Core Values, Robot Design, and Robot Performance.
Research Project - The eligible* team that best demonstrates the best research project, as understood by the judges using the rubrics. The team that wins this award cannot receive an award in another judged category.
Robot Design - The eligible* team that best demonstrates understanding and concepts of good engineering design principles as determined by the judges using the rubrics. The team that wins this award cannot receive an award in another judged category.
Core Values - The eligible* team that best demonstrates they understand the FLL Core Values, and applies them in everything they do, as determined by the judges using the rubrics. The team that wins this award cannot receive an award in another judged category.
Robot Performance - This award is based purely on the top score achieved by the team's robot during the competition rounds. Any eligible* team may receive this award, even if they are selected to receive a judged award.
*Eligibility - In order to be eligible to receive any awards, a team must not have competed in another official tournament during the current FLL season, must have no more than 10 team members, and abides by the FLL Core Values.
Advancement to the Hudson Valley FLL Championship tournament is based upon the overall performance of the team at a qualifier. The Tournament Champion and one or two other teams will receive an invitation to the championship.
Moving on to Open Tournaments and/or World Festival from the Championship Tournament is dependent upon whether or not Hudson Valley is granted a slot at the event(s).