Coaching a FIRST LEGO League Challenge Team on the Innovation Project
From ORTOP Wiki
Video of Workshop Held on September 14, 2020
Outline of Workshop
Famous FIRST LEGO League Innovative Solutions
- 3D printed hands for children
- Washable barcodes for produce to make sure food is fresh
- Baby temperature monitor for car seats
- Smart cane for visually impaired, using an ultrasonic sensor
- Easy grip spoon for seniors and individuals with diseases like Parkinson’s
- Cigarette butt legislation in Washington state
Importance of Innovation Project
- Scientific process vs Engineering process
- Science asks questions, and looks for answers
- Engineering identifies problems and develops solutions
- Engineering process is often more practical in everyday life
- Project provides opportunity to engage in the engineering process
- Choose a problem
- Research what has already be done
- Develop a new or improved solution
- Present the solution
- It counts 25% towards overall tournament awards
Scientific Method versus Engineering Method
| Scientific method can be | Engineering method can be |
|---|---|
| State a hypothesis | Identify a real-world problem |
| Research what is already known | Research and analyze existing solutions |
| Design an experiment | Identify possible improvements or new solutions |
| Collect data | Develop prototype(s) |
| Analyze data | Pick a solution |
| Make a conclusion | Get feedback |
| Identify future research | Refine the solution |
| Publish | Communicate and deploy |
Engineering Design Process
This Workshop
- Presents a process that your team can use.
- Shares more ideas than they’ll actually be able use.
- Allows you to customize to age and experience of team.
- Provides starting points for their creativity.
It’s the kids’ project!
- Don’t get so attached to working the project that it becomes more your project than the team’s project.
- Judges will ask how the team came up with their idea.
- Kids need to do the work; not the adults!
- Parents can play a supporting role.
Additional Things To Keep in Mind
- Important to have an accurate and correct understanding of the challenge.
- Make sure team understands what kinds of problems are allowed by the challenge.
- Kids may initially think of problems they have been studying in school and solve something outside the scope of the challenge.
- Kids (like many adults) have a tendency to jump to solution space, without a clear and understood problem statement.
The Innovative Project Rubric
- Identify: Clearly define a problem and research it well.
- Design: Generate innovative ideas independently before selecting and planning which to to develop.
- Create: Develop an original idea or build on an existing one with a prototype model or drawing to represent a solution.
- Iterate: Share ideas, collecting feedback and including improvements in the solution.
- Communicate: Share a creative and effective presentation of current solution and its impact on users.
Identify a Problem
- Consider annual theme regarding types of problems and the constraints it imposes.
- Watch the annual videos
- Answer the sample questions from the challenge materials.
- Encourage personal interactions with the theme.
- If you already know an expert or a professional in the field, what are they working on that relates?
- What are local universities doing in the area of the theme?
- Consider anything your team already knows, or is already interested in with regards to the theme.
Brainstorming to Choose a Problem
- Round 1: Each team member suggests a “crazy” idea
- Round 2: Build on the initial suggestions
- Assign a team member to be the recorder
- high-tech or low-tech options, make sure the record is shared afterwards
- Team members vote to select the top 2 - 4 ideas
- Make sure the final ideas are clearly stated
- Begin research on the final ideas
- Reconvene
- Review the research
- Choose one problem to pursue
Example from a previous season
Trash Trek: reduce, reuse, recycle Dive Deep: Research the possible problem statements
- What is already being done to address the problem – why aren’t they working or working well?
- Has someone solved a similar problem, will that work for your team’s problem?
- Are there other possible solutions, but they aren’t being used? Why or why not? How could your team change that?
Dive Deep
- What is already being done to address the problem – why aren’t they working or working well?
- Has someone solved a similar problem, will that work for your team’s problem?
- Are there other possible solutions, but they aren’t being used? Why or why not?
- How could your team change that?
- What is being developed, but isn’t finished yet? Can you help or suggest changes based on your research?
- Is there a group that is excluded by existing solutions, can your team help them to be included?
- Keep track of sources and give credit.
- Teams can interview experts during this step and later.
Contacting professionals
- Opportunity for kids to interact with adults
- Kids realize the impact and importance and relevance of local engineering.
- Opportunity to introduce FLL to the professional community
- On site visits are best
- seeing where engineers work
- probably not feasible during pandemic
- Remember to thank everyone the team works with.
Brainstorm Possible Solutions
- Brainstorm possible solutions
- Solutions can be
- physical
- social
- legislative
- virtual
- What technologies are needed?
- Are they currently available?
- Star Trek style solutions are still welcome, but they are a tough sell with Oregon judges.
- Know your stuff!
- Select finalists for further research
What is Innovative?
- Can be something completely new; or
- Using an existing solution in a new way.
- Be careful: The judges need to see how this is a new way too!
- Improving something that already exists.
- Improving access to or awareness of an existing solution.
- Making an existing solution easier to use.
Research Candidate Solutions
- What about team’s solution is new or different?
- Why is it not already in place?
- If your solution already exists in some form,
- Is there a problem with the current version?
- Can you design a solution to that problem?
- How much would your solution cost? Who pays for it?
Example: How can the problem of plastic bags be solved?
- Solution: Turn plastic bags into rope
- Some technologies to do this already exist.
- Next steps: Cost analysis, efficiency improvements. Is the process environmentally sound?
- Solution: Pass legislation to ban the use of single-use plastic bags.
- Already in place in many municipalities
- Next steps: Understand what other have done, consider improving and how to make it more widely adopted.
- Solution: Plastic bag collection bins in parks.
- Already present in many parks
- Next steps: Are they being used? What happens to the bags once they are collected?
Research and Consult Experts About Solution
- Who else is working on this problem?
- Universities
- Professionals
- Businesses
- Public groups
- Who is in a position to use your solution?
- Your experts will have opinions and knowledge.
- Listen to their criticism.
- Be prepared to think critically about your solution given their feedback.
- Does your team need to make changes?
- How would your team address a similar criticism in the future?
- Share this information with the judges.
Advisors and Potential Users
- Advisors can help team consider
- how their idea could be implemented
- what the challenges may be
- how much it would cost
- Potential users can help refine the idea
- Who might use the idea?
- How could the team reach them?
- Consider surveying advisors or potential users
- Can be done using a form or by interviewing
- Use both multiple-choice and open-ended questions
Solution Research Considerations
- Remember the basics of a journal article:
- Who, What, Where, Why, and How?
- You should know all of this for your solution.
- Nothing in life is free, everything has a cost
- What would your solution cost.
- A good solution with a high cost needs to be rationalized as to why it is better than a lower cost solution.
Fact or Fiction?
- Basics of research
- There are a lot of ideas out there
- Especially about problems that impact people directly
- It is important to be able to tell
- what is a fact
- what is opinion
- what is fiction
Create a Prototype or Drawing
- When possible create a prototype and test it!
- Use cardboard, wood or something else.
- If team can’t build a prototype they can create a drawing.
- Prototype or drawing should
- Show solution
- Show how it will work
- Identify challenges
Using Prototype or Model
- Drawing or building focuses the kids attention
- One type of prototype is a cell phone app
- For Android phones consider App Inventor
- appinventor.mit.edu
- A prototype doesn’t need to be complete or polished
- A concept prototype or model
- Illustrates team’s idea without actually implementing it
- Could be
- diagrams
- illustrations
- storyboard
- Another alternative: Taking an existing product and modifying it
- Test the prototype in some way: Function, usefulness, ..
Styrofoam to Glue for School
- Existing Solution: Orange Oil dissolves Styrofoam and turns it into glue.
- The team learned this in their online research and tested it in their homes.
- They even tested the strength of the glue.
- Possible Innovative Solution: Two-Parts
- Create a mixing device for making the glue AND
- An app so that people
- can find schools that own the mixing devices AND
- can collect Styrofoam to make their own glue for schools.
- Additional considerations:
- Adjusting the proportions or formula to make the glue perform better in certain circumstances.
- There will often be trade offs.
Developing the Presentation
- Can be any format that covers all the criteria, including:
- Formal presentation
- Skit
- Anything creative
- Remember that the medium should not distract from the message
- If there is a prototype:
- Show and tell
- Use a skit to show how it would be used
- Make it personal and fun
- Whole team participation
- Practice with a live audience if possible
Sharing your work
- Beyond presentations at school
- Present to experts in the field
- Share with populations that could be impacted
- Who uses it?
- Who benefits?
- Gather feedback to make improvements this season or later for a future version
Judging
Cover all the criteria on the rubric!
- Identify: Clearly define a problem and research it well.
- Design: Generate innovative ideas independently before selecting and planning which to to develop.
- Create: Develop an original idea or build on an existing one with a prototype model or drawing to represent a solution.
- Iterate: Share ideas, collecting feedback and including improvements in the solution.
- Communicate: Share a creative and effective presentation of current solution and its impact on users.
You will have 5 minutes to creatively share all of this in a memorable way!
