See January’s pilot challenge here.
Royal Robothon is a remote offseason competition allowing students to practice their coding and building skills and stay engaged during the FIRST® LEGO® League offseason. At the beginning of each month, three challenges are released – one beginner, one intermediate, and one advanced. Teams have the month to complete those challenges and upload videos of their runs, competing for a spot on the leaderboard. Scores are cumulative over the course of the offseason!
Teams are composed of 2-10 students ages 9 to 16 years old, and a coach. No experience is necessary for the coach – a variety of resources are provided! Students may use and modify their 2024 FIRST® LEGO® League season robot. In addition to the challenges, learning goals and teaching guides will be provided to assist in leading meetings and teaching the students.
Registration is currently open for the 2025 competition, with the first two challenges set to release on February 1st at 10:00 AM EST. Click the link below to register your team.
Q&A
Is there an entry fee for Royal Robothon?
No, Royal Robothon is completely free!
Where and when do Royal Robothon meetings take place?
Teams are free to set their own schedules, and coaches are free to set whatever location works best. Hosting a team at your house is an option, or if you have access to your FLL team’s normal work area you could host meetings there instead. It’s up to you!
How does my team submit our monthly challenge solutions?
Each month, coaches will be provided with a form to submit a video of their team’s attempt at the challenges. The video will then be reviewed, and coaches will be notified if their team passed or failed the challenge.
How can my student join a team?
If your student is not already part of a FIRST LEGO League team, start by searching for existing teams in your area and request to join. Otherwise, use the resources here to start your own team. Please reach out to us if you have any difficultly – the Royal Oak Robotics program is happy to provide assistance on your journey towards finding or creating a team.
How much of a time commitment is this?
This program can be as little or as big of a commitment as you would like it to be. Challenges are designed in a way such that teams that can only invest a couple hours each month will still be able to complete some missions, but completing all of them will take some time and effort.
Whether you’re just looking for a way to keep your skills fresh during the offseason or compete for want to compete for first place—it is entirely up to you!
I could maybe coach, but I don’t know anything about building robots. Is that OK?
Absolutely! Each month we will provide learning goals and guides for coaches to follow. With these resources, you will have the ability to lead a baseline program regardless of technical background. You will quickly find yourself catching on and able to help the students. By far the most important factor in being a coach is simply being willing to supervise meetings.
What if students in my team have no affiliation with FIRST® LEGO® League?
No experience is required to participate for either students or coaches. Any student ages 9 to 16 years old is welcome to join a team that is registered for the February launch.
Do Royal Robothon coaches need to complete a background check?
All Robothon coaches must complete a background screening before conducting meetings with their teams. For coaches of Royal Oak teams, this will be free of charge and typically takes a day or two to complete. Details will be sent to you when you register as a coach. For coaches external to Royal Oak, please complete background checks in line with your local school district and/or FIRST policies. Royal Robothon considers a passed FIRST youth protection program screening to be a completed background check.
If you have any additional questions, click the button below to let us know and we will provide an answer as soon as possible.