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BERKSHIRE ROBOTICS CHALLENGE 2009
Your action required!!!
You must first register your team for next year’s challenge with Berkshire Robotics Challenge by September 22, 2008. After you have been notified that your registration has been received by BRC you can then register with USFIRST at www.usfirst.org
The Berkshire Robotics Challenge 2009 (BRC 2009) offers an opportunity for children from third to eighth grade (ages 8-14) to build their science and computer skills while designing and programming a robot to complete a challenge. Students will work in teams toward a competitive goal while learning problem-solving, teamwork and good sportsmanship. The event is a blast!
What, Where, When Is The BRC 2009 Challenge?
The BRC 2009 challenge is called “Climate Connections-Building a Global Game Plan”.
Embark on an exploration of the earth's climate in the FIRST LEGO League's 2008 Climate Connections Challenge! Discover the links between science, people, resources and communities. Unearth how we learn about past climates and delve into questions surrounding our current and future climatic conditions. Join FIRST LEGO League teams in creating a global game plan as they make these Climate Connections! The details of this challenge are kept secret until September, 2008!!!
Our Berkshire County competition will be held on a Saturday in early March 2009 at the Lenox Memorial Middle School/High School and is based on the FIRST LEGO League Challenge.
Please note that although the BRC 2009 event will hold its competition in March 2009, we are using the same kits (your choice of NXT or the “classic” RCX kit) and mission as the FLL 2008 event, which is timed to be held in early December 2008. Some teams have enjoyed starting their preparation early and competing in a state-sponsored First Lego League tournament in the fall or winter.
For the BRC 2009 tournament, we may slightly modify the scoring to encourage completion of all phases of the challenge; however, any of our teams are free to enter the 2008 FIRST LEGO LEAGUE tournaments in other parts of Massachusetts or New England.
While the principles of physics and programming involved could be integrated into a school science curriculum, most of our teams have organized themselves as after school or neighborhood clubs, meeting weekly from November through the competition weekend. We (and the FIRST LEGO LEAGUE organization) provide support and technical assistance for coaches.
Why Make Teams Register So Early?
The short answer is to make sure you get kits!!! We’d like you to register with BRC before September 22, 2008, and once we notify you that we have room for you in the tournament, go to USFIRST, register with them and order your competition kit. Due to the growing demand of this event and the limited space that is available, we must require that all teams register with BRC before you register with USFIRST - we don’t want you to spend several hundred dollars on the USFIRST FLL fees only to find out that the BRC tournament is full. We certainly encourage you to enter the FLL events as well.
What Does the Whole thing Cost?
FLL’s registration fee this year is $200 and the NXT competition kit about $325. In addition, a team needs a LEGO extender kit which is $65.00. Please don’t let money stand in the way of registering your team. After receiving notification from BRC that your team registration has been received and accepted, all teams must also register with FIRST at www.usfirst.org no later than September 22, 2008 in order to guarantee that you will receive the table mat and table top parts necessary for the event.
What Resources Are Required?
BRC's registration fee is $25. The competition requires the use of a LEGO® Mindstorms NXT or RCX kit and the FIRST extender kit for the current year’s competition. NXT kits can be ordered from FIRST at www.usfirst.org. Please note that the NXT kit is the newer version and the only one available for purchase at this time. For veteran teams that competed in our previous events and still have their LEGO Mindstorms kit (either NXT or RCX) in good working order, the team registration cost is $200 (this includes official team manual, team number and administrative support from USFIRST); and the FLL 2008 Challenge Kit is $65 (this includes all table top elements specific to the challenge as well as a pre-printed 4’ x 8’ roll-out mat that can be simply placed on an existing table or floor). Therefore, the total cost for veteran teams is expected to be about $265. For rookie teams that do not have the LEGO NXT Mindstorms kit, a FLL Robotics Starter kit can be ordered from FLL for an additional $325.
A breakdown for a new team is as follows:
TOTAL: $615.00.
Breakdown....
$325.00 for NXT Robotics kit (can be bought at FLL online or at KB Toys)
$25.00 payable to the Berkshire Applied Technology Council for registration fee (this covers t-shirt cost for kids, etc.)
$65.00 to First Lego League to get the table top parts and mat specific to this year's challenge (this needs to be paid by Sept. 30th, the FLL deadline)
$200.00 to First Lego League as registration fee. This gets you your coaches manual, etc. (this needs to be paid by Sept. 30th, the FLL deadline)
FLL and BRC are limiting the team size to a maximum of 10 kids. Each team needs a coach; any responsible adult(s) who can help the group problem solve and work together will do. The RCX and NXT programming for the LEGO block containing the microchip is simple enough that the kids can teach themselves and the coach. We'll have coach support available from experienced local coaches. The FIRST LEGO League offers a website at http://www.usfirst.org and coaches' chatrooms.
Our teams last year met weekly for 8-10 weeks and did well with the challenge. The competition itself takes about 6 hours on a Saturday in early March with Sunday as the snow date. We also hold a Coaches’ Meeting on a Saturday in January to go over specific details of the challenge. As we did last year, we may incorporate a guest lecturer to discuss their use of robots in research consistent with the year’s FLL theme.
The specific details of the challenge are contained in the team manual. Generally, the Lego robots are challenged to turn, climb, lift and drop small items which are provided in the FIRST extender kit along with light and motion sensors.
REGISTER NOW!
All interested teams must register with BRC 2009 by e-mailing Denise Johns, of the Berkshire Applied Technology Council at djohns@berkshirecc.edu with team name, coach’s names, team roster (if possible) and e-mail address and phone number. Additionally, you must send a check for $25 for each team payable to the Berkshire Applied Technology Council to:
Berkshire Applied Technology Council, Inc.
C/O Berkshire Community College
1350 WesPittsfield, MA 01201
Remember…your registration with the BATC is not
finalized until we receive your payment!
Registrations will be accepted in the order in which they are received until the maximum 28-team field is reached. A waiting list will be established if any registered teams drop out. The competition is open to any school or neighborhood team; however, until September 22, 2008, we are limiting registrations to three teams from any single school. If there are any spaces after September, 2008 we will try to accommodate schools that are interested in registering more than three
Most teams were able to obtain necessary funding for team expenses (i.e., registration fees, LEGO Mindstorm kits, etc.) from individual team sponsors. We can also help with fundraising or send a coach to speak to a group that might be interested.
Do you still have questions? Please call any of the following individuals for more information about BRC 2009:
Denise Johns 413-236-2125 djohns@berkshirecc.edu
Dorothy Curtiss dcurtiss@berkshire.rr.com
John Wood 448-5474 John.Wood@sabic-ip.com
Lee Flournoy 499-0500 ldf@flournoylaw.com
Doug Crane 684-6206 dacrane@crane.com
Denise Jezak djezak@lenoxps.org
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