2021 First Lego League: Cargo Connect

By: Alvin Xu

The First Lego League Competition is one where you do different missions and complete them to earn points. Cargo Connect was the 2021 First Lego League Competition. There is a 2-and-a-half-minute timer, teams can do as many missions as they can when the timer elapses. There are 16 missions in total. You can score bonus points by going beyond the limit.

Each person has to join a team with their friends. Each team builds a robot to do missions.

They have 2 chances to try missions. Only the best score from the missions will be counted!

The robot must start in the white quarter circle and return to the home base after the missions.

A team can use different attachments, which are add-ons to robots to help complete missions easier. If the robot tools and attachments can fit in half of the rectangle in the home base, then 20 bonus points will be added to the score.

In these missions, the airdrop mission can be very fun! The robot must push a block that will release a piece of a food package. If this is done correctly, then it will be 20 points. If the robot puts the food package completely in the CARGO CONNECT circle, then 10 bonus points will be added.

The train tracks mission can be challenging! In this mission, the robot has to lower a train track and push the train until it cannot be pushed anymore. If the train track is pushed down, then it’s 20 points. If the train is latched at the end of the tracks, then it’s another 20 points. The maximum score is 40 points. The challenging part is how to push the train to the end of the tracks. If the attachment gets stuck or the robot's direction is not correct, then the train may go outside the track.

The platooning trucks mission can also be challenging. The robot has to push two trucks and latch them to the bridge. If the two trucks are latched and it is outside home completely, it’s 10 points. If one truck is latched to the bridge, then it’s also 10 points. It has a bonus point of 10 points when the two tasks have been completed. It will be 30 points in total. It’s difficult to latch the two trucks together. If the strength pushing the trucks is too much, the trucks may be not latched together.

I did some of these missions. I also did mission runs, which means doing multiple missions in one run. It’s more efficient because it saves time and the robot doesn’t have to return to the white quarter circle after each mission. I used different attachments to help me complete missions. I really like this challenge and I love programming robots to do missions. I am really looking forward to doing this year’s challenge!

Link: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-omr-001&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=omr&param1=y6bdVFVIsvuYsgEClQfz8OwmhzNKyrgL6nqJxNEJ6irMs4BrcPo5CkKkmgifaFb43OlGYFxlIBxlShyKJTFVGLddqyXs5NNUScg9%2Bnm%2BHRTSLKBBfJ0JCtwFllkGe7N3QAgkKnD6oEUb5MScie8YRqsjY4bUUiQbgkNtligDELuHrYXCMQJzPLyh%2Frd1Ju%2BpP3YPtb6NkxcFqnNxSMEzkIUtbbUda3G8U0mBoZzQA7VVVPZ%2B4srwawEXXKQncQRwD7nZ2cYRM2Sa1KFHewZL1QrWxCuiexxUjn3IUE6ItDjndjKkIczG3dsRkyHtqh95yvxyN%2BLyVk%2FkULBejgD52Z4gGxZSPC64Flu9AG5sZGV3a2VZ7edUrglh84J8K5TPECtQ8PTFnrGdgsTBARZW0A%3D%3D&p=cargo+connect+first+mission+fll+first+lego+league+2021&type=87fptxqjxp1acegikmwv4002620#id=1&vid=201572ca2f39c708ad39dbabf8478213&action=click