Two neighboring missions become one efficient run in this FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition tutorial. The Smaller Pancake box robot carries the combined M05-M07 attachment to release the ore from Mission 6: Forge, raise Mission 5: Who Lived Here, and move the blocks toward the edge for later use.
Mission 7 looks playful in a single run; ten attempts show how much it depends on the table. In this FLL 2025 UNEARTHED competition test, the Smaller Pancake box robot uses the Heavy Lifting attachment after aligning against the wall.
This is not the usual straight trip from base to mission model. For Mission 7: Heavy Lifting in the FLL UNEARTHED season, the Smaller Pancake box robot deliberately travels outside the mat, uses the table wall as a reference, and reaches the Millstone with an active pinless attachment.
The hook can be engineered perfectly and still miss if the robot begins at the wrong angle. This ten-run analysis of Mission 9: What's on Sale in the FIRST LEGO League UNEARTHED season follows the Smaller Pancake box robot with its roof-and-market attachment.
A rotating hook does most of the heavy lifting in this solution for Mission 9: What's on Sale in the FLL 2025 UNEARTHED competition. The Smaller Pancake box robot uses the gear-driven M09 attachment to raise the roof, release it cleanly, and lift the market wares during the same return movement.
Fast runs are only valuable when they survive repetition. This 10 out of 10 tutorial tests the Smaller Pancake box robot and the Tip the Scales attachment on Mission 10 in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition.
Rather than forcing the scale down, this solution lets gravity finish the job. In Mission 10: Tip the Scales from the FLL UNEARTHED season, the Smaller Pancake box robot uses a passive pinless attachment to lift the green cover just enough for the scale to tip, then catches the pan as it reverses.
Small variations in the approach do not always have to change the score. In this 10 out of 10 test from the FLL 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition, the Smaller Pancake box robot repeats Mission 11: Angler Artifacts with the same geared attachment ten times.
For Mission 11: Angler Artifacts in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition, the Smaller Pancake box robot does not simply drive into the model. With the geared Angler Artifacts attachment, it pivots into position, meshes with the mission gears, and raises both the flag and the artifact before heading toward the right base.
Retrieving the artifact once is satisfying; doing it ten times without touching the supports is the real test. This FIRST LEGO League UNEARTHED season video puts the Smaller Pancake box robot and the Careful Recovery attachment through ten runs of Mission 04.
Mission 04 leaves almost no room for a careless approach. In this tutorial for the FLL 2025 UNEARTHED competition, the Smaller Pancake box robot works with the Careful Recovery attachment to enter the mine, close around the artifact, and lift it clear of the fragile supports.
Can a motor-free mechanism repeat a multi-mission run without adjustments? This 10 out of 10 tutorial follows the Smaller Pancake box robot and the Map Reveal and Mineshaft Explorer attachment through M02 and M03 in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition.
One attachment, two mission models, and a lot happening in only a few seconds. During the FLL UNEARTHED season, the Smaller Pancake box robot uses the M02 and M03 attachment to reveal the map, secure the third topsoil section, and send the minecart to the opposing team's field.
Ten consecutive attempts reveal far more than a single polished run. In this FLL 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition reliability test, the Smaller Pancake box robot and the Surface Brushing attachment take on Mission 01.
Four jobs are packed into one compact run for Mission 01: Surface Brushing in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition. The Smaller Pancake box robot uses the Surface Brushing attachment to settle against the model, clear both soil deposits, capture the brush, and return to base.
Discover why this solution achieves a perfect 10 out of 10 successful runs in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition. Using the Smaller Pancake box robot together with this passive attachment, we analyze the design choices that make the completion of Mission 15: Site Marking and Mission 12: Salvage Operation remarkably consistent.
Learn how to complete Mission 15: Site Marking and Mission 12: Salvage Operation in the FIRST LEGO League 2025-2026 UNEARTHED competition using the Smaller Pancake box robot and this passive attachment.
Below is an example of a robot competition field along with the scoring system used to evaluate performance.
Variables are like small boxes inside the computer that store important information for us. Imagine the following situation:
Here you can find a cheat sheet with the most commonly used commands. There are also more advanced commands that are not included in the built-in API, but the available ones cover most, if not all, of the students’ needs.
Below is an example of a function definition and how to read it:
move_for_degrees(pair: int, degrees: int, steering: int, *, velocity: int = 360, stop: int = motor.BRAKE, acceleration: int = 1000, deceleration: int = 1000) → Awaitable
...
Parameters
pair: int
The motor pair to be used.
degrees: int
The number of degrees the motors should rotate.
steering: int
The steering value (from -100 to 100).
Optional keyword arguments:
velocity: int
The speed of the motor in degrees per second.
...
stop: int
Defines how the motor behaves after it stops. Use constants from the motor module.
...
acceleration: int
The acceleration in degrees per second squared (1–10000).
deceleration: int
The deceleration in degrees per second squared (1–10000).
Let’s take a closer look at the function definition:
The parameters before the "*" symbol are required parameters. You must provide them in the correct order. For example, the first parameter is "pair", so the command expects the motor pair first. The same applies to "degrees" and "steering".
The parameters after the "*" symbol are optional parameters. To change them, you must use their names. This means you cannot just write a number - you need to specify which parameter you are changing. For example:
motor_pair.move_for_degrees(motor_pair.PAIR_1, 360, 0, velocity=280)
Finally, the "Awaitable" keyword means that this command can be used with "await". This allows the program to wait until the command has finished before continuing with the next one. For example:
await motor_pair.move_for_degrees(motor_pair.PAIR_1, 360, 0, velocity=280)
The await command tells your robot:
“Wait until this action is finished, then continue!”
Without "await", the robot may move on too quickly and not finish its actions properly.
You can only use "await" inside an "async" function.
async def main(): await motor.run_for_time(port.A, 1000, 1000)
We already know how to set the speed of the motor and how long it should move. However, with these commands alone, we cannot control exactly how many degrees the motor turns. To make the motor turn a specific number of degrees, we need to use some simple math.
The motor speed is measured in degrees per second. We can use this to calculate how much the motor will turn using the formula:
S = V * T
S – the distance traveled (in this case, the number of degrees the motor turns);
V – velocity (degrees per second);
T – time (in seconds).
Before we can run Python programs on the robot, we need to open the SPIKE software, create a Python project, and connect the Hub to the computer. In this tutorial, you will learn how to do each of these steps using the LEGO SPIKE software.
