FLL Masterpiece

Robot in 30 hours - Presented by Red Beard Pandas!

Helping new FLL teams

Our team has put together a quick overview of the Masterpiece (2023-24) FLL Challenge.  We are offering insights into the table, quick solutions with minimal parts and code using the EV3 Mindstorm built in the basic tribot design.  We did these over 2 days, starting at noon August 1st, 2023 when the challenge was first released.

It took our 8 students 70 minutes to build the Lego missions, plan accordingly!

We  had 6 laptops open with the build instructions, and only half the team had done FLL before. We had built the EV3 tribots according to the Lego instructions that come with EV3 before the competition was revealed August 1st.  We kept the tribot design "ev3-medium-motor-driving-base", adding attachments sometimes.  Average team member age is 13, which is old for FLL (usually ages 9-14 in the US).
We next started cranking out these mission 'simple solutions' without showing how to tie it all together into a 2.5 minute competition run.  Keep in mind that many teams spend a lot of time changing attachments during a 2.5 minute run, and that impacts your score. Pick a few best missions for your team, and then see if you can grow. Think like a race-car pit crew.  Plan one sortie that launches on one side, and lands on the other side to continue the next sortie! 

Mission 7 - Hologram Performer

Mission 7 is a GREAT mission for your team to try first! It's close to base and still involves a few turns. Just position the EV3 lifter bar to coincide with the mission model.  Positioning is all dead-reckoning: using the built-in rotation sensors and starting the robot at the right spot. 

Mission 2 - Theater Scene Change

Mission 2 had a solution provided by FLL for Spike Prime. We have created a similar program for EV3, without using a gyro sensor.  Gabe provides some ideas for improvement if you want to add a color sensor to your tribot.

Mission 10 - Audio Mixer Part 1

Mission 10 involves lifting the audio mixer sliders. Gabe & Truxton explain that this model can be scored with 1 flip, but only for 2 of the 3 levers.  Clever solutions are possible, but left up to you!

Mission 10 - Audio Mixer Part 2

We went back to this one again for maximum points! This time, we decided to use a clever slope instead of using the attachment motor; this is called a "passive attachment". The robot gets a little caught up some times, but it does complete the mission and come back to base! 

Mission 3 - Immersive Experience 

Mission 3 can be frustrating, due to its distance from base.  Try some of the easier missions, like #7 first, to gain confidence and experience.

Mission 8 - Rolling Camera 

We tried to complete this mission by poking a pole from behind the camera, but we found this was difficult to hit such a narrow target. The spring in the orange handle offers some real resistance, so make sure your attachment has some force behind it! 

The camera regularly bounces off the orange gate if left down. 

Mission 9 - Movie Set

We pull the camera diagonally so that it ends up in the zone and pulls the boat past the line for maximum points!  Our attachment is 3 hooks at the front of our robot, maybe this can also be used for flicking the rolling camera in Mission 8?

Mission 5 - Augmented  Reality

We place a hook behind the lever then back up to pull it half way, then we turn and push it the rest of the way by ramming it on the way back to home base! 

Mission 13 - Craft Creator Part 1

So far, we have only pushed the drawer closed. Maybe we will come back later and open up the lid! This is an easy mission close-to-home-base that can guarantee points! 

Mission 13 - Craft Creator Part 2

After some time, we revisited this mission to open the lid with our attachment while we push the drawer! This mission looks chaotic, but works effectively, and that is okay... sometimes

Mission 1 - 3D Theater

Instead of reaching over the front and pulling, we drive  straight from base and push the paddles down! Another, close-to-home mission to guarantee points! 

Mission 11 - Light Show

This one was really hard at first! At first, we tried to lift the bar up  with a long lever, but it would require more force than we could get out of our medium motor. Also, we found that you have to lift up on both sides of the bar at the same time to properly lift.  So, think outside the obvious.  Where else could we apply force? We mounted a "fan" to the top of our robot to spin the top of the fixture!

Mission 12 - VR Artist

Instead of flipping the paddle 16 times to move the chicken, we aim for the yellow gear on the side! By spinning a clever attachment, we can get this mission done much faster. It was easier than we thought to get our attachment to mesh, we just had to start spinning as we approached it!

Museum Delivery

We combine three missions in one delivery worth up to 80 points!

We deliver everything that starts in Home Base to the Museum location: all 7 audience members, Anna the Curator, and our Masterpiece on the Pedestal. Sometimes the audience members fall out, so this can be an area to improve.

Mission 6 - Lights and Sounds

We flip both switches with one long attachment! This one was a little tricky since the switches are so small and they are in hard to reach places. A fun way to get 20 points!

Map of Experts' paths

Interesting that each expert needs to travel about the same distance!  Note that the Curator can start from either side's home base.

Proportional line following

Want smooth turns as you follow a white, black or other line?

EV3 Line Follower Code

Mission Stratagies

Missions you can combine

What missions use similar attachments and are close together?