FLL

FLL stands for First Lego League, an international youth robotics program for students roughly ages 9 to 16 (age eligibility varies by country). It is organized by FIRST, a nonprofit focused on STEM education, in partnership with the LEGO Group. Teams are typically composed of up to 10 members and are supported by volunteer coaches or mentors.

Each season centers on a central theme that combines a robotics challenge with a research project. Teams design, build, and program a LEGO-based autonomous robot to complete a series of missions on a standardized playing field. In parallel, they investigate a real-world problem related to the theme and prepare a presentation and display that explain their approach and findings.

Judging focuses on three elements: the robot performance in the challenge, the quality and relevance of the research project, and the team’s display of core values such as teamwork, inclusion, discovery, and gracious professionalism.

Competitions are organized through a global network of local and regional events, with advancing teams invited to national championships and, in many years, a world festival that gathers top teams from around the world.

History: First Lego League began in 1998 as a collaboration between FIRST and the LEGO Group to engage children in science and technology through hands-on exploration. Since its inception, the program has grown to thousands of teams in many countries and has evolved to accommodate different age groups and hardware, while retaining its emphasis on learning, teamwork, and community impact.