FIRST LEGO® League: Costs of taking part
You will need to pay a registration fee, get some LEGO® equipment and some software.
Registration fee
This registration fee for 2009 is £150 per team. For this you will get
- all the national and local support that goes into the running of the competition
- the "challenge set" consisiting of a special competition mat and LEGO® pieces for building the obstacles to go onto it. You will be using this mat in your school to practise meeting the challenges. (Note: you also need to buy your robot kit if you don't already have one)
- participation in the regional final to be held at the Universtiy of Kent
- winners of the regional final will be invited to the national finals to be held in January 2010
Hardware and software
What you need are some LEGO® parts and also some software. What makes this a bit complicated is that there are several different ways in which you could get the kit and the software, and several different suppliers that you could use. I've listed two of them. Teams that do not currently have the equipment should buy LEGO NXT sets. Those who already have the older RCX sets will still be able to use them in the competition.
Please note that the prices quoted are my best information but are not guaranteed. You'll have to check with the supplier for accurate prices.
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Method 1: NXT Educational equipment.
You need to buy the NXT Education Base Set (item 9797) at about £189.99+VAT and also the NXT Education Software (item 2000077) at £40.95+VAT for a single licence.
A site licence is also available if you are buying multiple sets but note that you need to buy one single user copy on the CD as well as buying the site licence, as the licence is just that and does not include the software.
These Educational sets come with a useful rechargeable battery but you need to buy a charger (item 9833) for it. You might also consider getting the Education Resource Set (item 9684) which has additional, non-electrical LEGO® components to enable you to build a greater variety of robotic structures.
You should be able to get these delivered within a few days but check before ordering. There are several suppliers. Here are two:- Rapid Electronics. Contact Kate Rushworth on 01206 751 166 or email sales@rapidelec.co.uk
- in2it Education Limited. Tel 01494 601 014. email: sales@in2ed.co.uk
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Method 2: NXT retail equipment.
From a toy shop, buy the retail set 8527 which includes the NXT software but does not include the rechargeable battery. Costs £179.99 at the LEGO® shop ( http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/Overview/default.aspx). Rechargeable battery is useful but can be bought separately.