Robotics

Competitive robotics at Jefferson Middle School

Coach: Ms. Kate McKenzie kmckenzie@cpsk12.org

2021-22 wrap-up

This year we had two FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge teams -- 6th grade Twisted Gears and 7th grade Eye of the Storm -- and 8th grade FIRST® Tech Challenge team called Ant Colony. FLL teams competed via Zoom in January and FTC competed in person, making three separate trips to St. Louis. We are looking forward to being fully in person again next season!

The 2022-23 seasons will start in August for FLL and late September for FTC. FIRST® rules limit teams to 10 students per FLL team and 15 per FTC team for competitions. Tournament team membership will be students who are participating regularly and consistently and are in good academic and behavior standing.

Students wishing to participate in both FIRST Robotics and cross country will need to discuss the schedule and their commitment level with Ms. McKenzie and Coach Clowe.

Any JMS students are welcome to come to FLL and FTC meetings to see what we do. If you are sure you want to be on a team, fill out this application form and turn it in to Ms. McKenzie.
Google Doc: JMS Robotics application (you can print it OR make a copy to your own Drive folder and fill it out, then print it or send me a link to it.

FIRST Robotics is a global nonprofit that runs robotics competitions at all levels for students ages 5 - 18. You can learn more about the whole program here: www.firstinspires.org

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) (6th-8th grade)

FLL uses LEGO Mindstorms EV3 or SPIKE Prime robotics and has a heavy emphasis on developing soft skills such as teamwork, project/time management, research skills, public speaking and group communication. Students build and program autonomous robots to navigate a game field and perform tasks. They also research a real-world problem related to the theme for the season and propose a well thought out and innovative solution.

At the tournament, they compete all day with other teams in the robot game, and also go before a panel of judges to present their research project solution, their robot design and strategy, and talk about their teamwork. The top teams will advance from a local tournament to a state tournament.

Teams are allowed no more than 10 members under FIRST rules.

To learn more about FLL, watch this YouTube video: About FIRST LEGO League

FIRST Tech Challenge (8th grade)

FTC has greater emphasis on technical skills and the engineering design process. Students use industrial-style parts to build a robot that is both autonomous and remote controlled. They generate an engineering design notebook showing all their work and design process, which they then present to judges. Students must already have good teamwork skills for this competition because the build process is much more intense and technically demanding.

Two MU engineering students come to meetings every week to mentor the team with robot design, building and programming. FTC teams are allowed no more than 12 members under FIRST rules.

To learn more about FTC, watch this YouTube video: What is First Tech Challenge?