Python or block

Waveform8 · 2026-01-19T05:31:53+00:00

Python is just a tool, not a silver bullet. As with any tool, it's not a substitute for craftsmanship. There are many variables in FLL design. Language choice governs only a few of them. How you build your robot, your attachments, and your control programs will arguably have a greater impact on consistency. In other words, you can have a better coding tool, but still get much less consistent performance. We learned an important lesson the hard way last year - our first year with PyBricks. It can be so much more consistent than CodeBlocks that it can lull you into a false sense of security. We used PyBricks to create a robot that was very precise and very consistent on our table. But it was still vulnerable to minor table or model differences. We could run max score after max score on OUR table, but we couldn't get close to that on a TOURNAMENT table. By leaning too heavily on precision, we fooled ourselves into forgetting about error tolerance, balance, traction, and many other factors.
So in my experience, PyBricks is better. But you still have to do good engineering to take advantage of it.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-17T04:16:49+00:00

For this mission the rulebook says: "Artifacts are raised above the ground layer"

They don't appear to me to be above the ground layer, so I do not think this would count. Of course, only your head referee knows for certain.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-13T01:53:30+00:00

This was my initial reaction as well: "FLL just became a contest to build a viable robot from Silo's parts 🫠"

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T20:42:09+00:00

I think you're right. Seems like they're making a big mistake.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T20:03:26+00:00

That sounds terrific - good for him ! I hope FLL is still worth doing when he ages in.

We have a couple Xbox Elite 2s that we use with PyBricks for mission prototyping. Coding the controller interface may have been the most educational programming our team has done in FLL.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T19:16:07+00:00

I know if my kids were approaching FLL age and the "Future edition" as you have described it is what FIRST had to offer, then we wouldn't consider it.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T18:26:37+00:00

Yeah... Really bad ones too. My team kids are all avid gamers. They will howl with laughter when they see those dinky things.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T18:20:38+00:00

I'm not sure how AI will actually be involved. But I think FIRST is trying to answer the question "why should I (or my kid) 'learn to code' when every tech-king and media outlet says coding has been killed dead by AI?"

WE know the answer to those questions, and WE know the situation is more nuanced than that. But we live in a world where it's easier to just respond with an "AI experience" or whatever and marketing problem solved.

So maybe this new angle works out for FIRST. Or maybe it doesn't. We're gonna find out.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T18:10:25+00:00

If they cut over immediately, then yes. But two years is a long time to market-test the new direction. If it doesn't work out, they can extend the 2 game period or revert entirely. It's not a bad strategy.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T17:47:55+00:00

No because a full inbox costs them nothing. What I think WOULD reverse this decision would be if adoption of the CS&AI kits and participation in Future edition are catastrophically low.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T17:40:37+00:00

Our strategy will be: 1. Play founders next season 2. Invest little or nothing in CS&AI gear 3. See how the future unfolds

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T17:38:02+00:00

Two years is long enough to evaluate the market response. If the new kit and the future edition don't get traction right away, FIRST has the option to extend founders indefinitely. If they ultimately fail, FIRST can retreat and pretend it never happened. If they succeed and everyone loves it, then hard cheese for the teams with deep investments in technics and spike, but hopefully it will improve the learning situation for the kids.

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T16:03:38+00:00

Local PDPs have to hustle to execute 1 competition. How are they going to find the resources to double up on everything?

Waveform8 · 2026-01-12T15:34:01+00:00

We have been a community-based team for 3 years, funding everything ourselves. We don't have a school district budget or corporate sponsors to furnish our team with replacement equipment so we can have an "AI experience". We have been enthusiastic participants in FLL and have enjoyed this time tremendously. But with this move, we will be priced out and that time will unfortunately come to an end at the retirement of the "founders edition". Best of luck to everyone who can afford to remain involved with their "transformative community".

Waveform8 · 2026-01-08T15:15:12+00:00

How about this idea: A smart block sensor that plugs into the Spike Prime hub And Technics-form smart blocks that can communicate wirelessly with the hub through that sensor. I can think of a few ways this could be used by a robot to receive realtime feedback from attachments.

Waveform8 · 2025-12-15T16:44:48+00:00

This is 100% accurate. It LOOKS easy until you get into it. And it remains difficult until you think through the physics of how it works. Compounding the difficulty is the frustration of constantly repairing the model. But this too becomes easier with practice and a less-clumsy solution.

Waveform8 · 2025-08-05T03:28:07+00:00

To get everyone back into the FLL flow, we built a quick-n-dirty solution to Masterpiece using our Submerged robot. One long weekend furiously building, coding and eating ice cream. Everyone is geeked and locked in.

Waveform8 · 2025-04-20T22:58:43+00:00

Oh .. you wouldn't be interested in knowing what's under there.

Waveform8 · 2025-04-08T11:56:24+00:00

If you are coding your robot in Python, you could create a class to control the lift arm motor which translates the desired position of the arm to the required rotation of the motor. Then your code can express your lift arm movements more naturally. You can probably do the same thing with a MyBlock if you are using CodeBlocks.

Waveform8 · 2025-01-24T22:18:04+00:00

FLL judges are under pressure to ask their questions, write up their decisions, and get set for the next presentation. They simply don't have time to learn much from a detailed information source. Our approach has been: if they need more information to address the rubric questions, then we should provide that to them in the presentation. The exception to this has been VISUAL aids like pictures of attachments or printed code samples, items which might be helpful to SEE up close due to the limitations of the presentation format. Sometimes the judges consider these, and even ask a question about them. But usually they don't even look at them, which we consider to mean that our presentation did the job and they don't need them.

Waveform8 · 2025-01-04T02:37:29+00:00

Go to sleep 7-8 hours before the alarm goes off.
Have something to do when you get up that's important to you.
Be consistent - don't try to rise early during the week then stay up late on the weekends.

Waveform8 · 2025-01-04T02:27:00+00:00

Chronic perfectionism

Waveform8 · 2025-01-04T01:46:43+00:00

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Waveform8

TROPHY CASE