Team Neon Supernova is the North Florida FIRST LEGO League Champions for the Trash Trek Season. We will compete at the North America Open Championship in Carlsbad, CA in May. Sponsor the team, get your logo displayed on all team materials, t-shirts, web site, and help us make the trip, and support these stellar kids in STEM!

1. NEON
SUPERNOVA
Proposal to Sponsor the FLL
North Florida Champions to
the North American Open
Championship in Carlsbad,
California in May
(click to advance slides)

2. WHAT IS FIRST?
• FIRST = For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology
• FIRST is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization devoted to helping young people
discover and develop a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM)
• Founded over 25 years ago by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST is a Sport for the
Mind where young, innovative, and creative minds explore science and
technology, solving real-world problems and competing in exciting, hands-on
robotics challenges
• Through their FIRST experience, participants win recognition, gain self-
confidence, develop people and life skills, make new friends, and perhaps
discover an unforeseen career path
• 360,000 kids in all FIRST programs last year: Jr FLL, FLL, FTC, FRC
• $25 Million of Scholarships in 2016

3. WHAT IS FIRST LEGO LEAGUE?
• Grades 4-8; ages 9-14
• 290,000 kids last season, in more than 80 countries
• After School Activity; Once a week, More often for competition
• Kids Learn and Compete in Three Focus Areas
• Core Values = Teamwork, Gracious Professionalism
• Robot Game = Robot Building, Programming, Missions
• Project = Create Real-Life Solution and Present
• Competitions: Qualifiers, Regionals (UNF for NE-FL)
• For more info, see firstlegoleague.org

4. FIRST LEGO LEAGUE (CONT.)
• Proven, verifiable impact!
• FIRST LEGO League’s positive impact on participants is
gratifying and well documented. Over 88% are more
interested in doing well in school, and 87% have more interest
in attending college.
• Research challenges facing today’s scientists
• Design, build, test and program robots
• Apply real-world math and science concepts
• Learn critical thinking, team-building, and presentation
skills
• Participate in tournaments and celebrations
• Understand and practice Gracious Professionalism®

5. TRASH TREK: THEME FOR 2015/16 SEASON
• Theme this season is “Trash Trek”, started August last year
• We’re not talking trash – we’re cleaning it up! In the 2015
FIRST® LEGO® League TRASH TREK Challenge, 290,000
children ages 9 to 16 from over 80 countries will explore the
fascinating world of trash. From collection, to sorting, to smart
production and reuse, there is more to your trash than meets
the eye. Join FIRST LEGO League teams on a Trash Trek to
discover the hidden (or not so hidden) world of trash!
• FIRST LEGO League (FLL®) challenges kids to think like
scientists and engineers. During the TRASH TREK season, teams
will choose and solve a real-world trash problem in the
Project. They will also build, test, and program an autonomous
robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology to solve a set of
missions in the Robot Game. Throughout their experience,
teams will operate under FLL’s signature set of Core Values,
celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious
Professionalism®.

6. IN FLL, KIDS LEARN…
Core Values
Teamwork
Leadership
Integrity
Respect
Listening
Creativity
Cooperation
Patience
Contribution
Self-Confidence
Project
Solutions
Presentation Skills
Speaking
Communication Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Acting
Art
Web Design
Social Networking
Robot
Computer Skills
Programming
Compass Directions
Friction and Torque
Angular Momentum
Geometry
Inertia and Gravity
Gear Ratios
Engineering

7. WHO ARE WE?
• FLL Team Neon Supernova
• Six Middle-school Kids: four girls, two boys, all talented and great grades
• Seasoned, Winning Coaches
• Brady P. Merkel (3rd year): Head coach, Engineering and Programming [VP at Bank
of America, Software Development]
• Kim Larsen (4th year): Assistant Coach, Core Values Specialist [Accountant]
• Winning History
• 2015/16: Champions at both Qualifier AND North Florida Regionals; 2nd in Robot
Performance
• 2014/15 as the LEGO DestroyerZ; State Champions in Core Values; 3rd in Robot
Design
• 2013/14 as the LEGO Bosses; Trophied at Regionals
• Aligned with Mark McComb’s Renaissance Jax non-profit organization to further
evangelize FIRST in NE Florida

9. OUR TRASH TREK PROJECT
• Our project, “R3Score” encourages all restaurants to take steps to be eco-
friendly and responsible. R3Score is the solution to survey and score the
restaurants on their readiness to 3Rs (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse). With a
restaurant’s permission, the results are shared on a mobile-friendly web site
and social media. The goal: allow concerned customers to “vote with their
wallet” and choose restaurants that strive to make a difference.
• Links
• Website: https://r3score.firebaseapp.com
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/neonsupernova
• Twitter: @neon_supernovas
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neon_supernovas/
• Google+: Neon Supernova

10. OUR ROBOT - NITRO
• Built using LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit
• Gyro - Enables accurate heading-based moves
• Light Sensors - Two
• Raw mode for more sensitive 0-1000 Scale
• Line Followers
• Square Up
• Proportional logic to minimize error
• Two Drive Motors
• Two Arm Motors
• Lightweight, Simple Design

11. SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL
• Sponsor the FLL North Florida Champions to represent at the North American
Open Competition
• What You Get
• T-Shirt Logo Placement
• Logo Placement on Team Poster Boards
• Logo/Link on Project web site
• Social Media posts
• Notoriety/PR
• Report/Pictures
•Future Leaders in STEM!

12. CONTACT INFO
• Brady P. Merkel, Head Coach
• brady@merkel.net
• C: 904.252.3769
• Kim Larsen, Assistant Coach
• kmurphdogg@aol.com
• C: 904.894.5997
• H: 904.683.7671
• Mark McCombs, Renaissance Jax, FIRST Representative
• mark@rjax.org
• C: 904.616.9869
• Want a Team presentation and meet the kids? Contact Us!

13. MORE PICS AND VIDS
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6TiNg9_pwdlkFVi9_nu0nQ
Members of the team meet with a Social Media expert for tips on marketing their project
R3Score web site

14. Before running Nitro (the team’s Robot) for a scoring run, they must get it inspected for any
non-LEGO parts, and no Bluetooth or Wi-Fi enabled

15. Saniya reminds Siya to verify the
alignment of the Composter before
running Nitro to push the Truck and
retrieve the Friendly Packaging. Blake
(the long-haired blonde boy, one of
the star programmers on the team)
looks on to supervise.

16. A wonderful outcome of this
tremendous program—friendship and
affinity. Emily and Caroline strike a
pose for the camera, fully confident
they’ll grow to be extraordinary
leaders, and lifelong friends!

17. A favorite pose of the team is to look in different directions and confuse the
photographers!

18. Coach Brady looks on as Aryaman adjusts the Gyro Proportional Turn to slow down a little
more as it nears the target direction—to improve Nitro’s accuracy of course!

19. An important FLL Core
Value is Gracious
Professionalism, which
means sharing with other
Teams, even if they are
the competition! Saniya
tells them how its done!

20. Before each robot run, the team must verify the missions are set correctly, and Nitro gets its light
sensors calibrated to the room’s light conditions

21. FLL Competitions bring volunteers with inspiring backgrounds. Here, a NASA
engineer gives the countdown before the 2.5 minute autonomous run.

22. The team created this resource to visualize and design Nitro’s high-scoring run on the Trash
Trek mat. Each mission has different points, and the more Nitro gets, the higher he rises on the
leaderboard!

23. INSPIRED?
• Help us out
• Pass it on
• Have a young ‘un? Look for or start a team! The FIRST programs our
exceptional!
• Contact Brady if you have any further questions!