| Hydro Dynamics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Challenge Number | 18 |
| Released In | 2017 |
| Missions | 18 |
| Kids | 284,000 [1] |
| Teams | 35,500 |
| Tournaments | 1,295 |
| Championship Tournaments | 166 |
Hydro Dynamics is the name of the 2017/18 FIRST Lego League challenge. It focuses on the water cycle and the ways in which humans can influence it. [2] Each event consists of two main portions: the project and robot gameplay. Teams have fewer than ten weeks to prepare for their competitions. [3]
Teams are invited to identify a problem in the human water cycle and examine it to determine the cause and current solutions that may exist. Teams then solve to the problem by improving on a previous solution or creating a new one. Teams finally create a presentation that describes their solution and how they reached it and present it to the judges at their competitions. [4]
The table performance portion of Hydro Dynamics is played on a 4 ft by 8 ft field covered in a plastic covering and rimmed by wooden boards. In order to compete in this portion, teams have to build a robot using a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit. During a competition, two fields are placed besides each other, with one robot competing on each field. Matches last 2+1⁄2 minutes and consist of a team's robot completing missions using pre-programmed instructions. [5]
The missions in Hydro Dynamics revolve around the purification, transportation, and use of water. A list of the missions and their point values is found below. [5]
The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is an international competition organized by FIRST for elementary and middle school students.
Combat Missions was a one-hour-long reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by former Survivor castaway Rudy Boesch that aired from January to April in 2002 on the USA Network. It pits four teams of highly experienced military and police operatives against each other in physical challenges and "mission" scenarios. Each team has a call sign and corresponding color. The four teams are Alpha (Red), Bravo (Blue), Charlie (Yellow) and Delta (Green). The team members were past and present members of SWAT, the United States Army Special Forces, the Navy SEALs, Marine Recon, the CIA Special Operations Group, Delta Force, and the U.S. Army Rangers. The mission scenarios has each team face off against the opposing "Shadow force" using MILES gear in real-life combat situations. The show was not picked up for a second season.
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FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams. FIRST Tech Challenge is one of the five major robotics programs organized by FIRST, which its other four programs include FIRST Lego League Discover, FIRST Lego League Explore, FIRST Lego League Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition.
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