Team history
We are very proud of our history, and would invite you to get to know a little bit more about us.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge team founded
The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. started as a community-based FIRST LEGO League Challenge (formerly FIRST LEGO League) team of kids ages 9 to 14. Teams research a real-world problem, develop an innovative solution, create and program a robot to autonomously complete tasks, and keep the Core Values of FIRST in mind while doing so. Originally working out of one of the coaches’ homes, the team has qualified for the World Festival twice and has a history of strong Core Values and robot performances.
2006
FIRST LEGO League Explore team founded
In 2008, the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. expanded to include younger students. The “Mini W.A.F.F.L.E.S.” were the start of our FIRST LEGO League Explore (formerly FIRST LEGO League Jr.) program. Similar to FIRST LEGO League Challenge, teams in this program also research a real-world problem and form a creative solution for it. They show their learning through a motorized LEGO model and a Show Me poster.
2008
VEX team founded
As the members of our FIRST LEGO League teams began to age out of the programs, the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. started a VEX robotics team for high school students. VEX teams use a kit of parts to build a remote-controlled robot to compete and complete challenges on a 12′ by 12′ field.
2010
First year hosting the Kingston FLL Challenge tournament
Each year since 2012, the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. have organized and hosted the local FIRST LEGO League Challenge regional and FIRST LEGO League Explore festival in partnership with Queen’s University. Prior to that, we volunteered at the event for many years.
2012
FIRST Robotics Competition team founded
To further expand the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. family of programs and make robotics accessible to more youth in the area, a community-based FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team for grades 8-12 was formed. The first of its kind in Canada, the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. FRC team allowed any local students without a team at their school to join the program and now accepts students from any school in the region. In its first year, the team won the Rookie All Star award and qualified for the World Championships.
2013
W.A.F.F.L.E.S. summer camps founded
In 2014, we ran our first week of LEGO robotics summer camps to promote STEM programs for youth and support our teams. Since then, we have expanded to as many as six weeks of fun and educational camps for ages 4-14.
2014
Not-for-profit status obtained
In 2015, W.A.F.F.L.E.S. became an official not-for-profit organization, registered with the Government of Ontario. This has allowed us to extend our reach and opportunities in the community.
2015
VEX team retires
In 2017, the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. VEX team retired, as we had established our FRC program for high school students and decided to focus our resources on the one program.
2017
FIRST Tech Challenge team founded
As the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. continued to grow in size and the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program expanded to Ontario, we decided to start our own team for grades 7-12 after taking part in a summer pilot program. FTC is more advanced than the LEGO programs but still has a small scale and is highly accessible. This was especially helpful in the wake of COVID-19, as the smaller robot allowed students to pass the robot from house to house and still get hands-on experience.
2020
FTC retires, Discover begins
The W.A.F.F.L.E.S. FTC team retired after three straight years qualifying for Provincial Championships, to reconsolidate our resources and efforts on our FRC program now that FRC was back to fully in-person meetings. The same year we added FIRST LEGO League Discover to our program lineup, where students aged 4-6 explore real world themes and create with LEGO DUPLO. This also allowed us to increase the age range of our summer camp programs.
2023
First division win and a trip to Einstein
Our best season to date. With our robot Leo, the FRC team won the Curie Division at the World Championship in Houston, our first division win, and went on to play on the Einstein field, finishing in the top six alliances in the world. Earlier in the season we won the Technology Division at the Ontario Provincial Championship and finished 4th overall in the Ontario District.
2024
FRC, FLL, and summer programs
Today, W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Community Robotics is a family of programs that houses a FIRST Robotics Competition team and multiple FIRST LEGO League teams in all three divisions. We run summer programs every year, participate in many public events and demonstrations to promote FIRST and STEM, and have several initiatives to support the community.
Today
What we have built
A new robot every January, designed and built in six weeks.
How to join
Find the program that fits your child’s age. The LEGO programs need registration, so join our mailing list to hear when it opens. For the FRC team, come out to a meeting to check out the team, no commitment. Email info@wafflesrobotics.com and we will tell you when the next one is.
Everything meets at 575 Victoria Street in Kingston. No experience is needed for any program, and bursaries may be available for families who need them.