The team will:
Within the seasonal topic, you will conduct research on a problem of your own choosing. Like real scientists, you develop a research question, do research and consult experts to find a solution to the problem and share it with others.
Here are the steps to prepare:
Identify mission strategy:
Design and create robots and programs
Test and iterate solution to complete all missions
You will present your Innovation Project, Robot Design and Core Values in one combined judging session to the jury. This session takes 35 minutes and takes place in a room.
Your presentation must not be longer than 5 minutes! It should be short, to the point and memorable. In order to treat all teams fairly, jurors will stop presentations that are longer than 5 minutes.
You have various options for the presentation, e.g. formal lectures, role-plays, parodies and much more. The jury members make sure that more than just one member of the team has done research work.
It is important that your presentation includes and reflects all parts of the assignment (find a research question, come up with an innovative solution and share your findings with others).
Present Robot Design solution at judging: Prepare a short explanation that clearly explains the process your team used to create your robot and programs and how they work. Make sure your whole team is involved.
Please note: The judges can only judge what they hear!
After the presentation, the judges will ask you a few more questions about your research.
At most regional tournaments, three to five teams present their project again publicly on stage in the afternoon. The jury selects special presentations. Note that these do not necessarily have to be the best presentations. It is also about showing a range of different presentations (in terms of research, presentation, content, or perhaps the age or experience level of the teams). This way, the teams and the audience have the opportunity to see special research projects and possibly learn something from them for the next year.
Compete in Robot Game matches: Your robot starts in the launch area, tries missions in the order chosen by the team, and then returns anywhere into Home. Your team can modify your robot when it is in Home before launching it again. Your team will play multiple matches, but only the highest score matters.
The award for the category Research will go to the team, which through high-quality research, an innovative solution and a creative presentation, demonstrates the deepest understanding of the various disciplines and aspects associated with the research assignment.
Robot Game
Robot Game ranking is purely numeric:
Your highest single match counts. If multiple teams have the same highest score, other 2 scores count.
Rankings go into awards only for the Robot Performance Award.
Judged Areas (No Numerical Total)
FLL uses 3 equally weighted judged categories:
1. Champion’s Award
The only award that combines everything:
Strong Robot Game score
Strong Project
Strong Robot Design
Strong Core Values
Consistency and overall quality
Teams with balanced excellence win — not necessarily the highest robot score.
Each team receives:
Robot Design rubric (10–12 scoring lines)
Innovation Project rubric (10–12 lines)
Core Values rubric (about 8 lines)
Judges then rank teams by overall excellence.
This is very close to actual FLL procedure:
Champion’s Award Winner – advances
Robot Performance Award Winner – advances
Robot Design Winner – advances
Innovation Project Winner – advances
Core Values Winner – advances
Two or more “Judge Recommended” teams – advance
(based on strong, balanced rubrics)
Thus:
➡️ A team with 200 but excellent project → gets Project Award → advances
➡️ A team with 400 but average project & design → might not advance
Based on many years of FLL judging:
Judges heavily value the project.
If a team is 2–3 range → that hurts advancement chances.
3s across the board means:
Good but not award-winning
Not in the top group
Even if content is good, if delivery is not smooth, judges lower scores.
Engineering notebooks, research summaries, prototypes → matter a lot.
Average → not a strength.
Even with lower robot scores, judged excellence wins.
This is what top advancing teams have in common:
A real problem with real users
Prototype or simulation
Data or expert interviews
Clear impact
Engaging, polished storytelling → Level 4
Clear strategy explanation
Organized code documentation
Iteration examples
Innovative attachments
1–2 “wow” technical ideas → Level 4
Teamwork examples
Specific roles
Show conflict resolution
Highlight learning moments
High energy and confidence
Excel here.
