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Minnesota FIRST Robotics Events

Simley Scrimmage Signals Shift Into Overdrive, By Greg B. and Aliza M.

In an exciting preview of things to come in the upcoming FIRST Minnesota Regional and other FRC competitions, nine Minnesota teams learned first-hand how their robots are likely to perform under real game conditions during a day of pre-regional competition.  Hosted by Team 2518-Spartans of St. Jude, Simley High School, Inver Grove Heights, MN, the day-long event included time trials, alliance matches, and even “pits” for teams to tinker with their robots in-between events.

Using a specially constructed mock playing field – albeit one without carpet -- these nine teams were able to run practice matches for most of the day on Saturday, February 19, providing valuable feedback on each team’s robot design -- data that wouldn’t otherwise be known until the Thursday practice matches of a regional.  “Everyone learned a ton of stuff," said Mark Lawrence, chairman of the FIRST Minnesota Regional planning committee and operations director of Edina’s The Green Machine. “Having the scrimmage on Saturday before we shipped the robot (meant) we were able to come back to our workshop, get to Home Depot, and fix the robot."  In addition to the technical information gleaned, the matches provided a strategic window into the nature of this year’s game.  “Actually participating in a scrimmage makes a huge difference in how a team will approach the game," Mark Lawrence added. “One thing we realized is with this game, there is very little real time to actually score.”

Regardless of how much time there was to score, the robots were certainly impressive to watch. Teams were able to perform most of the functions intended in Overdrive; Ultraviolet-Team 2129 of Southwest High School, Minneapolis, was even able to place one of the almost eight-pound Trackballs on the Overpass to conclude a match, quite a feat! Danny Rose, the leader of the manipulator group for Team 1816, was one team member who came away from the scrimmage quite impressed with the game and hopeful about his team’s chances: “Our robot is surprisingly better than I thought it would be. This year's game is really entertaining, there's a lot more action, more robots bumping into each other, it's really fun.”  Even though there is a lot of work for teams still to complete, especially concerning programming for the hybrid mode, participating in the Simley scrimmage is an accomplishment not to be undervalued!

The Minnesota FRC teams in attendance included Team 2232- Anoka High School, Anoka; Team 2498-Bearbots of Blake High School, Minneapolis; Team 2503, Brainerd High School. Brainerd; Team 2498, Cretin-Durham Hall, St. Paul, Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, Edina; St. Paul-Johnson 2479 (check out a recent profile on Team 2479 in "The Rake"); Team 2129-Ultraviolet, Southwest High School, Minneapolis, and Team 2177-The Robettes from Convent of the Visitation High School, Mendota Heights.

Minnesota Splash, a Minnesota FIRST regional event!             By Greg B.

December 17, 2007 -- Three hundred fifty avid FIRST Robotics team members, mentors, and volunteers gathered on Saturday, December 8, at the Eagan, Minn., headquarters of Lockheed Martin for Minnesota Splash. Attendees enjoyed a series of presentations and seminars covering much of what comprises the FIRST build and competition season. The event kicked off with a welcome by Rick Udicious, the Vice President-general manager of Lockheed Martin. Having sons who participated in the program, Mr. Udicious was speaking from experience when he alluded to the special nature of the FRC program: “What you do in the next couple of months …will have an impact on the rest of your life.” Following the introduction by Mr. Udicious, Mark Lawrence of Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, gave a brief overview of FIRST’s history, including the founders, leaders and guiding principles.

Team 2169, KING TEC of Prior Lake then appeared, in costume, to assist in giving the many attending rookie team members an idea of what takes place, beginning with the exciting moment when the season’s game is revealed at Kickoff (Jan.5, 2008), to inventorying the kit of parts, to building a robot and finally, participating in the competitions. KING TEC presenters, co-captains Taylor and Dustin P., specifically mentioned the special relationships fostered by and among FIRST Teams. “It’s competition and cooperation at the same time. Use the FIRST community, it’s there for you,” they said. Sam Cheek, Team 2169’s programming head, also gave a very brief overview of the programming needed to run a FIRST robot.

Teams were then divided into groups for break-out sessions. Most of the seminars, prepared and presented by members of The Green Machine, ranged from the how-to’s of robot electrical systems to somewhat less technical topics such as marketing, media, and spirit. William Durfee, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, gave a hands-on seminar on pneumatics. A majority of the presentations have been posted here on the Minnesota Regional web site. As the build season looms, we hope the first-annual Minnesota Splash was a great way for everyone to dive into FIRST robotics and was a very informative morning for everyone