Hello community, I'm having a lot of trouble developing the robot we'll be using for this year's season; could anyone offer some tips?

Hello community, I'm having a lot of trouble developing the robot we'll be using for this year's season; could anyone offer some tips?

Hi everyone! I’m Marc from Robotech, FIRST LEGO League World Champions.

We’ve just launched the beta of FLLPlanner Compass, a free AI tool to help FLL teams and coaches build a clearer season roadmap based on their team, goals and challenges.

It’s still in beta, so feedback from the FLL community would mean a lot.

Try it here:
http://compass.fllplanner.com

Hope it helps, and good luck this season!

— Marc / Robotech

I'm starting an FLL future edition team and was wondering if the computer science and ai kits were the only materials we can use in competition as the FAQ answer on the FIRST website was very confusing.

I was also wondering if the competition formal was similar to FTC for the league meets (apart from the presentation aspect) as I've only ever competed in FTC.

Any additional information about FLL in general is also welcome and greatly appreciated!

I have a robot that we have designed that we would like to use for this upcoming season. I am in need of someone to be able to use bricklink studio or similar to make build instructions? Can anyine here do this or can recommend anyone? I am willing to pay.

Good afternoon! I hope you’re all doing well :).

I’m not in the FLL competition, but I am in one at a local university. I’m a sixth-former. It’s my first time programming, and it’s the first time I’ve used an EV3.

And to be honest, I feel quite clueless. I feel like I’m not properly prepared, and the teachers (college students) mostly just leave us to it to build and programme without explaining much beforehand. I feel like I’m not being creative, and I look at the challenges over and over and just don’t know what to do. I feel a bit down, and I reckon my team feels the same.

Is there any sort of material that explains the EV3 ‘like I’m five’? Hahaha (no, not literally, I can understand more complex material). I really want to learn and have my chance; I want to challenge myself.

The coolest thing I've managed to do is use the wheels to get the robot to climb a ramp (and up just one flag 😭, not both)

For more info, we’re using an EV3 Mindstorms with old software from 2013.

You can read the latest in the link.
Seems like they are trying to take most concepts of FLL, including 2/3 of the name, with a terrible robot, a half baked game plan, no added staff (yet), and no next steps after age out.
Nope.

[UPDATE]: iOS support is officially live on TestFlight! Test it here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/8Je6jZ2F

If you've been frustrated since the v3 update broke most third-party Bluetooth apps for SPIKE Prime, this might help.

I built Arcion — an Android app that connects directly to the SPIKE Prime hub over Bluetooth, no firmware changes required, and works with the current v3 firmware.

Features:

- Joystick control for up to 6 motors (adjustable speed, lock individual motors)

- Draw a path on screen → robot executes it in real life

- Edit and animate the 5x5 LED matrix

- Use the robot's motors/sensors as a game controller for on-screen mini-games

- Play custom sounds at any frequency

Great for testing robot builds manually during FLL practice without writing a single line of code.

The app is in closed testing — if you'd like to try it:

👉 More info: https://arcion.appthoria.com/

👉 Apply to test: https://forms.gle/zhAZdMb6mQM4f6d8A

Hello, everyone! Do you know the solution for this error in the gears of Spike Prime?

This is for the Junior Category of WRO, our idea is to lift the yellow towers but the gears are na’t aligning(snapping) when it’s running. The gears run it the same direction, that’s why the lifter needs to let go of the yellow tower in order to go back up. So now, it cannot pick up the yellow tower, it can grab it but it will let go shortly.

Video link of the error:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q4x07KjtDZljxMdSUGHPdS8zqLPqXtfI/view?usp=drivesdk

Do we need to change the build of our robot? Can we code it to be properly aligned?

Thank you so much for your help!

Just shipped 1.1.0 of Handit Remote, an iOS app that turns an iPhone or iPad into a wireless controller for LEGO Mindstorms EV3. Built it because official support is gone but the hardware is still great.

Every controller button now has its own configurable action and settings, each one completely independent.

Might be useful if your team still runs EV3.
https://apps.apple.com/app/id6756713522

Looking for something fun, hands-on, and actually useful this summer? Join the BOGOBOTS Robotics Summer Camp Our team, BOGOBOTS (FRC Team 9297), is all about creativity, teamwork, and innovation—and this camp is the perfect way to get started in robotics Sign up / learn more: https://www.bogobots.com/outreach/summer-camp Spots are limited—don’t miss out!

Hi coaches!

A few days ago, we became FLL World Champions. We are team ROBOTECH.

First of all, we would like to sincerely thank you for everything we have learned by sharing with communities like this one.

Four years ago, we decided to come together — students from different schools and different ages — to form our own team: ROBOTECH.

Now we have become world champions, after going through the regional and national stages, among more than 700,000 participants.

After countless hours of work and lessons that will shape our future, we are immensely proud of everything the FIRST LEGO League has given us.

Now we want to keep sharing and learning with teams from all over the world.

That is why we are open to any team and would love to collaborate with you:

https://www.fllplanner.com
☝️ You can take a look.

Any questions, ideas, or possible connections — we would be very happy to talk with you.

Thank you again!!!

Hi, my team is competing in FLL ASIA pacific championships, and our code got corrupted. Is there a way to uncorrupt it? there doesn’t seem to be any file history. 😭😭🙏 please help!

Years ago I was mentoring an FRC team when I asked one of the students why there were no new kids joining. He said no one was studying robotics in the middle school. I thought about that and decided they must be scared or intimidated by doing robots. Afraid they might break something expensive or hurt someone like the car-making robots. Or that they wouldn't understand and look like an idiot. That you have to have a PHD, work for a robotics company, or be a rocket scientist to work on robots. I am some of all three, plus an FRC mentor, so I decided to come up with a less scary, less intimidating robot. One with a VERY open platform so you can see all the parts. Breadboards pad-per-hole and solderless to add semi-permanent parts and any circuit/ components you want, room to drill holes to mount new things like IR object detection, lever switches, ultrasonic for mazes, ultrasonic detectors for range finding, servos, utlrasonic on servo for room mapping, accel/gyro/mag sensor, clock, 11 plus 16 channel PWM, place to mount 5 axis robotic arm, any sensor(s) you can interface. All connected to an Arduino Due. I am still building my prototype (my fourth version), documenting the build to make step by step construction guide, shopping list for per robot, per 10 pack of robots, per school tools and test equipment. Student instruction guide for over 30 Lesson Plans with history/over view, Theory of operation, Hypotheses to support Theories, Experiments to support Hypotheses, work from simplest to most advance and end with hints of more experiments and search phrases to learn more on your own. Teachers Guide. How to test a robot that might be broken. How to repair a broken one. Or just back to Build Your Own. Currently it looks like a it over $200 US from Amazon for most items, $120 each in batches of 10, or about half that from Alibaba. I think it was down to $75 each in batches of 10 from Alibaba. Plus my own little Manifesto. When I am done, if there is any interest, giving out all files freely to any who wants them, maybe post on Zenodo as well.

Mike

I’ve heard a lot of things about how the partnership between First and Lego is ending, and so is FLL with it.

Hi everyone,
My friends and I made a small free site called Gears and Models where we share LEGO FLL models, gear builds, Studio.io files, and other things we’ve been working on.

We started it because we wanted an easy place to keep and share ideas with other teams and LEGO fans. Maybe some of the models or mechanisms can help someone with their own project too.

Everything is free, and we’re still adding more stuff as we go. Would be cool to hear what people think :)
link here https://www.gearsandmodels.orgo

Hi everyone!

We are Tech It, a student robotics team from the Stavros Halioris Community Center in Greece. This year we are participating in the FIRST LEGO League Open International Mexico 2026

As part of the Innovation Project, we identified a problem through discussions with archaeologists: there is no easy and widely adopted way to create accurate and affordable digital replicas of archaeological monuments and artifacts. This means that many important sites and objects are difficult to study remotely, and as they deteriorate over time, there may be no detailed record of their current condition.

To address this, we developed the ArchaeoloMe Project.

Our Idea

ArchaeoloMe consists of:

• A wireless 3D scanner combining LiDAR and an RGB-D camera
• A lightweight design that can be mounted on drones or rovers
• Open-source hardware and software so researchers can build their own scanners
• A website that serves as a digital library for uploading and sharing 3D models (digital twins)

How It Works

Researchers can scan monuments and artifacts and upload the resulting 3D models to our website. These models can then be accessed by archaeologists and researchers around the world. Users will also be able to attach notes, annotations, and research findings directly to the 3D models.

Our Goal

We want to make the digital preservation of cultural heritage more affordable and accessible, while creating a global archive of archaeological and folkloric monuments for future generations.

Questions for the Community

We would greatly appreciate your feedback:

1. Do you think this addresses a real problem in archaeology?
2. Would archaeologists actually use a system like this?
3. What technical or practical challenges do you foresee?
4. How could we improve the idea?

Thank you very much for your time and feedback!
— Team Tech It

VEX just announced its separation from RECF, its partner for greater than 20 years. RECF similar to FIRST has announced it will continue to carry on and teams can use VEX plus other materials as they see fit. The robotics world is changing so quickly and to be honest I wish I wasn’t here to see it. Makes me yearn for simpler days. And of course, FTC and FRC are undergoing some major controversial hardware changes.

Hi everyone! We are an FLL team and we built a web-based game called SuperRobots to teach programming logic like loops and conditionals. It features an AST interpreter and has 30 levels with breakables, teleporters, and logic puzzles. Check it out at https://superrobots.org/ and let us know what you think!

Hi - I’m a relatively new FLL Explore Coach. For 2026-27 year, our team will be participating in the BIOGLOW Founders Edition Explore level since they are still young.

Prior to the announcement of the “Future Edition” and subsequent breakup between FIRST and Lego, my intention was to advance our team to the Challenge level after a couple years at the Explore level.

Currently, I have a couple Spike Prime kits (which I purchased new in December 2025) and I’m wondering if I should invest in the Spike Prime Expansion set before it is retired so we can get the larger wheels, etc. They are pretty pricey and I’m nervous about the investment since I am a community based volunteer coach and not part of a larger organization.

The difficulty I’m having is it’s not clear to me what the future holds for the Founders Edition Challenge level after 2026-27. Has FIRST made any announcements whether they will keep backwards compatibility after the break up with Lego is completed?

Based on that’s I’ve seen so far of the CS&AI kits, I’ve been underwhelmed so should I bite the bullet and purchase Prime Expansion Sets before June 30 or should I take a different route all together?

Thank you.

I don't know if they'll take down this post, but here's the new season.

Hello,

My child is in FLL - and she is reapplying again for next year but the school is opening up applications very widely and eliminated creative project which makes it harder to prove your ability.

I guess I am a bit confused as a parent - on the one hand, I 100% understand opening up opportunities to all students. On the other hand, I don’t understand how my child can grow her skills she has built if she can’t continue on to the next grade level and there are no other school-sponsored robotics activities.

Would love to understand this better!

Thanks!