Congratulations to Elliot, Kabir, and Abhay for taking home the 2nd Place Champion Award at the 2026 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) NorCal Bedrock Championship on Sunday 3/8! This accomplishment earns their team, Argo R2D2, the opportunity to compete at aFLL world and other International Invitationals competition in the coming months.

 

 

 

🌟 NEW: EARLY REGISTRATION FOR 2026

 

📣 Program Leadership Requirement

The Robotics Club is a PTA-run program and depends on parent volunteers to organize and manage the season.

To offer the program for the 2026–27 school year, we will need at least two parent Program Chairs to oversee registration, coordination, and communication for the season.

If we are unable to secure two program chairs, the robotics program may not be able to run next year.

Parents who are interested in helping lead the program are encouraged to indicate their interest during registration or reach out to robotics@argonautpta.org to learn more about the role.

 

🤖 Updated Robotics Program Proposal (Post FIRST–LEGO Update)

There has been a major recent change in the robotics ecosystem:

Key takeaway:
The long-standing partnership between FIRST and LEGO Education will officially end after the 2026–2027 season, which will be the final season of FIRST LEGO League as we know it. Due to this change, we will not be using the newest LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI hardware.

For the upcoming season, our program will continue to support the Founders Edition which uses the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime set hardware.

 

 

Learn about the Robotics Program

The Robotics program offers 4th through 5th grade students a range of exciting opportunities:

  • Hands-on learning: Students and their teammates engage in designing, building, programming, and operating robots.
  • Leadership & Teamwork training: Students learn to work collaboratively, make strategic decisions, and achieve team goals.
  • Problem-solving: FLL challenges students with various problems that can be approached in multiple ways. Through teamwork, they develop creative and critical thinking skills to overcome challenges. Mistakes are viewed as part of the learning process, offering valuable lessons.
  • Empowerment: This program is student-centered, giving students the autonomy to shape their team dynamics, robot designs, and competition strategies.
  • Fun: While focused on learning, Argonaut Robotics ensures that the experience remains enjoyable for everyone involved!

What is FIRST Lego League (FLL)? 

FIRST Lego League (FLL) Challenge is a robotics competition open to students in grades 4th through 8th. In this competition, students engage in hands-on learning by designing, building, and programming a robot to complete a series of missions. Additionally, they are tasked with researching and designing a solution to a real-world problem. The core values of FIRST robotics, including Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and FUN, help students develop lifelong skills such as teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving.

 

Please read all information thoroughly before registering. 

  

Expectations: Teams will need to build the challenge set, and their robots.  In addition, teams will need to test and code their robots to complete the challenge.  All team members will also be working on the required FLL Research Project and Core Values Presentations. 

 

Competition: All teams will attend one Qualifier, with the possibility of advancing to a Regional Match and Nationals.

 

Donation Request: A donation per participant is requested to cover the cost of team registration and materials. While encouraged, the donation is not required. Please keep in mind that without sufficient funding, we will not be able to continue this program.  Additional donations are always welcome. 

 

Time commitment:  In addition to our regular club meetings, we should keep in mind that team success is being able to work well together, and this requires teamwork in all aspects of the competition.  Besides designing, building, and coding the robot, each team member is required to participate in both research presentation and core value presentation. These presentations may require additional “homework” time outside of the club meeting time. As we get closer to the competition in November, additional team meetings may be required.  In addition, students cannot miss ANY of the club meetings.  Students who miss any meetings may be removed from the team. 

 

Parent Involvement: Parent involvement is encouraged, with each parent anticipated to contribute at least 20 volunteer hours. Parent coaches, who do not need to have a technical background, will guide students through technical and non-technical challenges. Mentors from Saratoga High School MSET Team will provide training for parent coaches. Coaches from Saratoga High School MSET will assist in the Robot Game, Innovation Project, and Core Values.

  • Each team will need (2) two parent coaches, their role is to guide students through technical and non-technical challenges.   You DO NOT need to have a technical background to coach your team. In addition, mentors from Saratoga High School will provide training for these parent coaches. 
  • Besides team coaches, we need to have at least (2) parent chaperones during on campus meetings. 
  • During the competition, we will need parents to be drivers/chaperones to accompany the teams to attend offsite competition. Parents who have been to competitions in the past had found this to be both exciting and enjoyable to see their students in action. 
  • Parent volunteers will need to be cleared as volunteers by SUSD to participate.  

Coaches: Teams will be taught and co-coached by members of the Saratoga High School Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (MSET). These mentors will assist in the Robot Game, Innovation Project, and Core Values.   

  

If you have any additional questions about Robotics, please email robotics@argonautpta.org