It was a great day today at KCVI. We gathered before the webcast to meet and mingle with the rookies: team 3710 from Frontenac Secondary School. Many of our K-Bots are rookies too, so there was definitely a buzz in the room.
“I’m so excited and I don’ t know what for!” -Dominick, grade 9
We showed our robot from last year, and some of the Cyber Falcons took a turn at driving it around the halls. It will be great at the end of build when we can practice together sometime!
There were reporters for local newspapers and local TV news–Look for the articles, and the broadcasts!
Pretty soon the game was revealed, and we learned what we’d be focused on for the next 6 weeks. Here’s the animation:
After a pot luck lunch, with excellent robot-themed foods…
First Prize: this looks JUST like last year's robot!
second prize: FIRST logo--very appropriate for this year!
cupcakes were purple, blue and white inside--those are our colours
…we read through the rules in small groups to make sure that we understood all of the restrictions and dimensions and scoring rules.
It is important to read everything in great detail so we can make good choices in our design.
Then we took over part of the library to simulate the game-play.
We enjoy this time to “be robots”. We get a chance to be a little silly, and it really helps us understand what the game is all about. 
Hula-hoops were good substitute for the game pieces, and we were great racks, poles, robots and mini-robots. 
Later in the afternoon we divided up into small groups to brainstorm what we want the robot to be able to do.
We joined back together and presented our ideas.
In our discussions we considered different scoring options, talked about speed and maneuverability, and discussed ideas for the mini-bot.
“I think the mini-bot should be fast and small just like me!” -Paige, grade 9
Our Toronto kick-off crew arrived towards the end of the day. It was so exciting to see our game pieces, and to hear their ideas of how to play the game.
We are going to meet tomorrow at 9:00AM until 5:00PM to continue with our brainstorming and to decide what ideas we will prototype.
How was your Kick Off?
We had hoped that our tournament would be a qualifying regional tournament, but unfortunately there weren’t enough teams signed up by the deadline, so we changed it into a practice tournament. A few other teams and community groups decided to join in with the Lego fun. To add to the fun of the day, we were glad to have Karthik as our M.C. for the tournament. He helped get people enthusiastic, and informed about the FLL game Body Forward.
In the morning the Discobots, Legendary Lego Legion, Vanier Vipers and the 
Helped by mentors from Queen’s University, and K-Botics, these inexperienced teams learned how to build and program a robot to accomplish several missions. One of these rookie teams, the 
During the day we had demonstrations of our robot from the Breakaway challenge last year. It’s always neat to watch people’s faces when we open up the electrical box.
We were also glad that the local 
Throughout the day, we focused on creating an enthusiastic, fun, welcoming and spirited environment. A big part of this spirit involved the presence of our KCVI mascot, the blue bear.
Anika made friends with the blue bear at the FLL practice tournament that we hosted last year, and it appears that they are still good friends now!
They danced together when the music played….and they weren’t the only ones dancing!
Our dance lessons helped us get EVERYONE involved…even Vanier’s Viper!
The field table competition happened in the afternoon. Round robin play was followed by the playoff rounds. Each team should be proud of what they accomplished.
When we step back and reflect on the day, we are proud of what was accomplished by our team, and by the FLL and Jr. FLL teams. We wish them all well on their upcoming regional qualifying tournaments, and hope that our day helped provide important feedback and useful practice on the field tables.
Congratulations to all of the teams! We look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Our prototypes are coming along well. We have successfully kicked the ball a few meters! We can control the ball while the robot moves forwards and backwards! These principles have been well tested.
