You could use the LEGO Steel Balls as a third wheel on the robot. It is a caster wheel. But this is steel and as we know from basic existence on this planet, where there is steel there is also rust. The steel ball could get quite rusty and this could have an influence on the behaviour of the robot
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.
The balance of the construction of the robot has a great influence on how it will move. This is especially true if you would like to move in a straight line. If the robot is slightly heavier on the right it will move to the right. Here we have two robots - a Five Minute robot and a Box Robot and we will discuss the differences in the constructions and why the box robot is much better than the Five Minute even though it is using the same parts.
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.
The robot can move with different speed by applying different power to the motors. It will most of the time make smaller deviations when it moves slower. But you can't just move with a power of 10 all the time. This is a way too slow especially for competitions like FIRST LEGO League or World Robot Olympiad. In this video tutorial I would like to discuss the balance between motor power and robot movement error, how does the battery influence the power of the robot and to conduct an EV3-G experiment that will record the values of the Gyro Sensor along with the current power.
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.
This video tutorial contains a detailed description on how we accomplish the FIRST LEGO League 2018-2019 Into Orbit mission called Emergency Walk, which I think is one of the most interesting missions ever in FIRST LEGO League competitions. Join me in for a short explanation.
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.
In the third run Nightbeast team solves Mission 04 - Crater Crossing and partly Mission 03 - 3D printing and Mission 014 Meteoroid Deflection:
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.
This is the first run of Team "Nightbeast", with which they solve M01 and M02 from FIRST LEGO League 2019 Into Orbit:
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.
This is the fifth and the last run of the Nightbeast team. Robot goes out of the base, do missions:
and stays on the field. It's a common practice for the competitors to left the robot on the field after the last run. This allows them to do some important points at the end of the match.
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.
In the second run Nightbeast team solves different tasks from two missions - M05 Extraction and M06 Space Station Modules:
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.
There are a few main challenges with box robots and in the following tutorial we would like to resolve them. Read on and let's see how we could do this.
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.
It's a box! It's a robot! It's a box robot. Box robots are very popular on different robotics competitions involving LEGO Mindstorms like the FIRST LEGO League or World Robotics Olympiad. Let's start with a brief introduction and continue in the next videos with explanation on the features of the robot and why such robots are frequently used.
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.
This video tutorial is part of the series on how to make your robot 100% precise and accurate. We accomplish the Emergency Walk mission 10 out of 10 times. The attachment works. Every time the attachment is started in successfully accomplishes the mission and this is one of the most difficult missions on FIRST LEGO League competitions ever.
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.
Here we start with a second box robot that we would like to build. It is in a way improvement to the first robot and we would take a look at its features.
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.
With the shape of a box it is very easy to align this robot to different wall and to add very stable pinless attachments to it. The goal of the video is to discuss this feature of this particular robot construction.