FIRST® LEGO® League (or FLL) is a competition for kids with 4 – 16 years of age. Kids and teenagers can compete in three different age categories. FLL brings science, engineering, and math to their competitors through practical learning. Competitors of this robotic-oriented program, which helps students build a better future also give skills to solve real problems. This competition also develops the critical thinking, programming, and engineering skills of their competitors.
The core values of FLL are discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun. Discovery, because competitors explore new skills and ideas. Innovation for creativity and persistence to solve problems. Impact of applying what competitors learn to improve our world. Inclusion, because they respect each other and embrace their differences. Teamwork for stronger teams (when they work together) and fun because they enjoy and celebrate what they do.
All competitors are members of their teams. They have 2 to 10 team members of the same age (It depends on the age category). Teams are almost from every country in the world. Every team has one captain (one of the members) and 1 – 3 mentors. Mentors can’t help the team in their work, but they can organize the team and answer their questions. It’s because kids and teenagers are the competitors, and they have to get the idea of solutions and other things.
Every team has 6 months to prepare for the competition. The competition is made up of four categories. Robot game, robot design, innovation project, and core values. For the robot game, they have to make their robot made out of LEGO® bricks. Their robot solves obstacles on a game plan which is themed to the topic of the competition. Robot design is about their tactic for the robot game (robot, attachments, cable management, programs, …). In an innovation project, teams have to make their project which is related to the topic. They have only one condition and that’s the innovation project is about using some technology to solve a problem. Core values are about members’ positions in the team, how the team works together, equality of team members.
Every year, FLL has a new challenge that is oriented to a specific socially important topic. For example, 2024’s topic was inspired by art, and teams must invent and innovate new ways of creating and sharing art around the world. In 2023 the topic about energy.
These two years are the for me most important because, at this time, I competed in an FLL. I was part and for one year a captain of a team of Ultra Technicians. In our first year, we won the “Rising all-star” award and in the second year, we won in the robot design category. One of our innovation projects was about the lamp, with a wind turbine, that can get power from wind or town electricity. Our second innovation project was about interactive cinema and theatre, where people could vote for the continuation of the film or the drama.
My FLL journey was positive, and I grew in my professional life. Through teamwork, I improved my communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Also, I got better at building and programming robots for complex tasks. FLL helped me to improve my innovation resilience, creativity, and determination. I’m grateful for my new friendships.