2012 Senior Solutions Challenge

FIRST® (FLL) teams challange this season is to improve the quality of life for seniors by helping them continue to be independent, engaged, and connected in their communities, In the 2012 SENIOR SOLUTIONS^SM Challenge, over 200,000 students ages 9 to14 from more than 60 countries will explore the topic of aging and how it may affect a person’s ability to maintain his or her lifestyle – solving issues like getting around, keeping in touch, or staying fit. Teams will research obstacles and then suggest ways to improve the quality of life for the seniors affected. Teams will also build, test, and program an autonomous robot using the MINDSTORMS® NXT programming technology to solve a set of missions on an obstacle course.

Success at Regional Tournament ...

... Now on to the State Tournament;

 The team was successful at the Regional Competion on Saturday, 12/17/11 in Batavia, IL.

The team was honored with one of the top three awards for the research project; Cold Tracing with Thermochromic Leucodye Technology, and qualified for the Illinois State Tournament on January 20th - 21st, in Arlington Heights, IL.

Challenge Details Released - Sept 2nd

Fifteen Robot missions later, the Team discussion and analysis of the field requirements and potential strategy proved exhausting.  Depositing 48 individual bacterium in the sink, 12 grocery items on the table, and avoiding the bacteria in the refrigerated trailer along with the fish, were the most intriguing.  Several ideas started to emerge which the Team will continue to develop and start designing at the next meeting.

Food Factors: Mission Models Build

The Team started building the mission models (thermometer, cooking timer, bacteria, virus ...etc) at the last meeting, after the KRAFT presentation.  There was so much anticipation and enthusiasm in getting back to work on the models, that at the next meeting, the Team members immediately picked up exactly where they left off and got right to work.  Some of the models are more complex than others, like the combine and the import/export conveyor loading mechanism. Now that all the models are built, it looks like this season is going to be very interesting, and be a very precise challenge.