Pictures of 2008 FLL mat and challenges
Tom W. was kind enough to take some pictures and email them to me... 
thanks, Tom, for being the first to email me with some pictures!
thanks, Tom, for being the first to email me with some pictures!
The mat definitely looks a little different, doesn't it?
Comments
House + roof solar panel
Truck
Hydrogen car
Dam + Flood
Trees
Railroad + rail car + coal
Oil platform
Power lines
Wind turbines
Power plant
Uranium
Corn
Solar power satellite
Some of the mission are obvious, most are not. The cooperative/competitive mission looks to have a unique twist this year. Let the speculation begin....
I'm hoping this year's theme will be a good one - alternative energy sources are fun to study.
I agree that guessing the missions is half the fun. Previous year's challenges have been pretty obvious--it has been clear where all the models go and it is just the details that were up for debate. This year is different. Placement of some of the major models is unknown and their function is not obvious. There also appear to be a ton of deliverables, retrievables and transferables (?). New twist on base too. However it works out, it looks like a fun course.
The rules come out in early September, I think. Guess we have to wait a month.
Jim
Question - why the month difference between when the field set up kit ships and the rules?
Can teams practice on the field without the rules for a month?
If I had to guess, I'd say the robot must start in the upper left corner (in the picture).
But the base (at least, the area most resembling the base) is right in the middle left of the picture. Isn't the 3M sticker always in base?
(1) All the mission objects are closer to the base, so less time is needed to get to them, leaving more time to do more complicated missions.
(2) For robots that rely on eyeball aiming, they will likely be more on target, since a degree off on aiming is less critical over a shorter distance.
I wonder if the second effect is to help equalize the field for those teams that are still using the RCX, which is less able to keep to a straight line.
I'm glad you are enjoying the program at JMU. I had an early role in helping create the purchase order and negotiating a bulk discount from LEGO Education for the 70 NXT sets that JMU received.
David Levy
Education and Outreach Director
Virginia FIRST LEGO League
restonrobotics.org
Scott Evans said once that when a number of teams start scoring 400--and we certainly saw that last season (with congratulations again to Jonathan's Built on the Rock team)--he goes out of his way to make some of the missions much harder. Granted, the planning on this season started ages ago, but it wouldn't surprise me if Scott saw enough early on to know that FLL was due for a strategy overhaul.
MCJ
www.engineersoftomorrow.com