NorCalFLL Tournament Info - Playing At Learning Home · 4:30PM Closing Ceremony ... – High Energy music, Emcee/Announcer, A/V - many distractions! ... 10/19/2014 17 Robot Performance

10/19/2014

Copyright © 2014 Playing@Learning. This document may not be duplicated and/or distributed, electronically or otherwise, without explicit permission. All trademarks, copyrights and service

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NorCalFLL Tournament InfoOctober 13, 2014

10/19/2014


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Today’s Goals

• What happens at a Tournament and how to prepare yourself, the team and team parents

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Keep in Mind!

• FLL is NOT about competition– Much is accomplished before tournaments!– Going through the process is the goal!

• Keep it FUN - Celebrate!• Think of it more like an amateur Golf

tournament – you play your game but can admire/watch other players


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• FIRST Values– Core Values– Robot Design– Project

• ALL parts are equally important!

• ALL parts are requiredto be eligible for any Core Award

Program Goals



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FLL Tournaments• In 2014 FLL World Class season, 2 tier system in Nor Cal

– November: 1st Level (aka Qualifier) Tournaments – Attend 1• Register Either in the “Registration Round 1” OR “Registration Round 2”

– December to February: NorCal District Championship Tournament –Invited to attend, if team “advances”

– All similarly sized tournaments will have same schedule with some local flavor at beginning and ending of day.

• Tournament Policy– Exactly one Qualifier tournament per team– Only 1 Championship per team.

• NorCal is NOT using FIRST’s Event Registration system!



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Qualifier Tournament (QT)

• Team registers for exactly 1 November QT• Each event will have 12 to 24 teams each• Variety of locations throughout each

district • List of 2014 Qualifiers is posted on

norcalfll.org site



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Championship TournamentsFor 2014 season, the NorCal FLL region is divided into 3

“District Championships”• Updated divisions were published in late September and

based on geography and number of teams.

• Advancement is based on Champion’s Award criteria … – Expanded criteria for Robot Performance

• “Roughly” 2 times the percentage of advancing teams• The advancing percentage will vary in each district• The number of advancing teams will be available before the QT

• All Championships will be as identical as possible– 48 teams– Planning January events. Possibly December or February



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Typical QT Schedule

8:00AM Team Check-In8:30AM Opening Ceremony8:45AM Coaches’ Meeting9:00AM Judging / Game Rounds Start12:00PM Lunch Break1:00PM Judging / Game Rounds Continue4:30PM Closing Ceremony5:00PM Cleanup & Go Home



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Tournament View• The day is about the kids – not the adults!

• The only acceptable interaction between adults and Referees, Judges, etc is to say Thank You!



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Tournament “Spaces”• Pits -> Work area for the team doing the day -> NOISY

– 1 table & a few chairs with “nearby” power– Shared FLL challenge table(s) for practice– Food may or may not be allowed– May be team and up to 2 coaches only (“Closed”) – depends on space

• Competition Floor -> Area where Robot Game is played -> NOISY– 1 or more competition table pairs– Spectator seating or standing only– Likely team members only on competition floor (no coaches/mentors)– Highly likely NO FOOD OR DRINK!– High Energy music, Emcee/Announcer, A/V - many distractions!

• Judging Rooms -> Individual quiet area for team interviews {Core Values, Robot Design, Project}



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Tournament “Activities”• Team check-in -> HAND IN UP TO DATE ROSTER!

– If no “handwritten” names, good to go.– If “handwritten” names don’t match what you already submitted, then

you must have signed waiver for new names• Team Volunteer check-in• Coaches Meeting

– Mandatory for an adult to attend – be on time! Not for the team– Make sure team is supervised!

• Opening Ceremony• Two Primary Activities: Judging and Robot Game• Closing Ceremony

• Along the way, have fun and manage Food and Mood



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Required Core Awards: Qualifiers[Consolidated Model]



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Required Core Awards: Championships

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Robot Game• Robot Performance Award

– Considered a Core Award – Best score of game rounds (minimum of 3

required)– Team may not win the robot performance (or

any other core award) if “egregious” Core Values input was received about the team or anyone associated with the team (including parents, coach, mentor, etc)



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Robot Performance Rounds

• Minimum of 3 rounds – may have more• 30 minutes or more in between robot

performance rounds to allow team to iterate/fix/adapt

• Highest score only is what “counts” • All Qualifiers will have a practice round



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Robot Inspection• Ensures robot is built following rules

– 1 Controller; Legal LEGO elements, Legal LEGO sensors; No bluetooth

• Encourage all tournaments do inspection as part of team walking up to competition area for their round– Referees will also do this before match

starts!



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Robot Performance Rounds• Queue up ahead of scheduled round – pay attention to flow

of day!• Team will walk to up to table - talk to the referee!

– Need to build model and place on other team’s table– Every scoring element needs to be in view of Referee– Nothing on floor – Don’t touch or check field elements – talk to the referee – they will do so

• Match will start typically with 3-2-1-LEGO!• Only 2 kids at table at a time

– Kids can “tag team” in and out but only 2 @ table– Rest of team will be about 3’ back from table (behind line)

• Strongly encouraging tournaments to allow only team members onto competition area• Adults are “Audience” and need to go sit in stands or viewing area



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Robot Performance Rounds• Match will finish with review w/ referee… KIDS

ONLY!– One kid will initial the scoresheet

• Results are final after referee review & initialed scoresheet– Head Referee can be asked to review before initialing – After Head Referee makes call, that is it.

• We do allow the kids to ask questions • NOT THE ADULTS• There is no escalation beyond Head Referee• If there is a mistake, at the best/earliest way to fix equitably,

the Head Referee will do so



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Robot Performance Round Tips

• Practice - Participate in a Scrimmage!• Have secure way to carry robot &

attachments• Practice Timed Matches – Helps to have

other teams and/or ”audience” present• Team can make a Checklist• Practice – Host a scrimmage!• Make LEGO-based “aiming” jigs



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Robot Performance Scoring

• Referees fill out score sheet • Scorekeeper “tallies” up points using a

program– Scoresheet is unique to NorCal & will be

published soon (in QA)• Highest Score Counts

– 2nd (and possibly 3rd) score as tie-breaker



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Judging Participation

– All team members expected to participate in all judging

– Team must participate in all 3 judged areas to be eligible for any Core Award, including Robot Performance or to advance



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Rubrics• Defined criteria that the Judges use to evaluate team• Short list of criteria matched to key FLL Takeaways • Focus on comments

– We need your help! Every tournament organizer will make sure that the team rubric feedback sheets are screened for “appropriate” comments before giving back to teams… but we are all volunteers and human! Help to “interpret” for team in positive way…

• Criteria linked to specific awards • Streamlined text for ease of use• Emphasis on team demonstration of all criteria • “ND” option - Not Demonstrated



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Judging “Evaluation”

• Not an absolute number/score• Teams are ranked compared to other

teams (of those at your tournament only)• Judges “deliberate” (discuss) over results• All Core Awards based on deliberations• Rubric-based feedback given to teams

– Rubrics are solely based on 10 minute interview with judges



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Judging Rooms• One or More sets of rooms

– 12 or 16 team tournaments has 1 set of Judging Rooms– 24 team tournaments have 2 sets– 48 team Championships have 4 sets

• Typically near pits or competition floor but team may need to go outside

• May be small and have limited floor space• Tournaments have a “Team Members Only” in

Judging Room policy– Means no coaches, mentors, parents, siblings, etc– Spectators are very distracting to team members – Exceptions made for very special cases (autism, etc)



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Judging

• 3 judging sessions– Project– Robot Design– Core Values

• 10 minutes each session with panel of 2 or 3 judges

• Evaluation Criteria (Rubrics) are posted

• Be on time – queue ahead of time and watch schedule



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Project Judging

• 10 Minutes Total– 5 minute team presentation– 5 minute Q&A with judges

• Setup time counts• Watch out for “technology”. Must be “live”

presentation (not pre-recorded)• Make sure that required elements are part of

presentation! [See project description in Challenge document]



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Project Judging

– Required elements must be part of the 5 minute presentation!

• If any required element of project is “Not Demonstrated”, then team is not eligible for a Project Award

• As long as they participated in Project judging, they would remain eligible for other Core Awards in other areas (Robot Performance, Core Values, Robot Design).

• As for the Champion's Award (and advancing), they would not be eligible because the Champion's Award criteria specifically require that all Project elements be met….



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Robot Design Judging• 10 minute conversation with judges• Demo of Robot & Summary of Programming

– There will be a FLL table in room• Don’t script it!• Don’t have a “presentation”

– Okay for team to prepare note cards but be careful!. Team needs to answer judges questions

• NorCal does not use the “Robot Design Summary”



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Core Values Judging• 10 minute conversation with judges• Will likely include a short “warm up” activity that

is not scored or included in rubrics• NorCal does not use the Core Values Poster!

• [Not included in Rubrics but included as part of deliberation!] Core Values Input may be received from volunteers, referees and roving judges– Non-adherence to Core Values (from team, coaches,

mentors, parents, etc…) disqualifies team from receiving any Core Award –



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Awards and Advancement

• Focus on a well rounded team: Champion’s Award criteria– Each Challenge area is equally important including FLL Core

Values– All elements are required (Project, Robot, Core Values)– Note that a team’s “Core Values” input can be impacted by all

adults associated with the team, not just the children. And this is for the entire day of tournament – not just during the Core Values judging “session”.

• Fixed percentage of teams from each event will advance [Goal is ~30% from qualifier]

• Awards and Advancement are based on a discussion amongst the JUDGES with input from others



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How Does Advancement Work?

• See Judging FAQ– Robot Performance is a “Gate” – either a team is

eligible based on their rank (not their score) or they are not.

– Then, for teams with eligible projects, • Judges will rank teams overall in each of the 3 areas (Design,

Project and Core Values), and will discuss which ones will advance

• Fixed percentage of teams from each event will advance [Goal is ~30% from qualifier]

• Awards and Advancement are based on a discussion amongst the JUDGES with input from others



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Managing Food and Mood• Food

– Buy from tournament (if offered) or bring own (if allowed)– Food NOT ALLOWED in gyms– Please obey all local restrictions particularly around food/beverage

restrictions – we need to keep on the host site’s “good side”!• Mood

– The tournament day can be very stressful! Things are likely to go wrong.

– The team will generally take their “mood clues” from the adults around them. Treat the tournament as a celebration / fun event.

– Recognize what each team member needs as it relates to managing stress!

– Have a plan in case of “meltdowns” ; Have a plan in case of bad weather ; Have a plan in cases where team is affected by cold/flu

– Very very helpful to participate in a scrimmage to understand how the team members react to the distractions and “what-ifs” that will inevitably happen



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Bring To Tournament• Laptop(s)• Robot & additional pieces• Lunch/Snacks/Water/Non-Sugary items

– CHECK WITH HOST FIRST!• Extension Cord(s)• Kids• Team Volunteer and/or challenge table

for use in design judging or pit practiceCopyright © 2014 Playing@Learning. This document may not be duplicated and/or distributed, electronically or otherwise, without explicit permission. All trademarks, copyrights and service


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Wrap Up / Q&A

• Questions?• For more info:

– NorCalFLL Community site• http://social.norcalfll.org

• On the internet– [email protected]– http://www.norcalfll.org– http://www.firstlegoleague.org



NorCalFLL Tournament Info - Playing At Learning Home · 4:30PM Closing Ceremony ... – High Energy music, Emcee/Announcer, A/V - many distractions! ... 10/19/2014 17 Robot Performance

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