Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, will help host a first-ever regional wide FIRST event, the Minnesota Splash. On Saturday, December 8th, more than 30 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams from all over Minnesota are expected to participate in pre-season activities geared toward the needs of young teams. This event will take place at Lockheed Martin, Eagan, MN.
Due to space constraints, however, there will be a limited number of members and mentors from each team allowed to attend. To extend the reach of this event, plans are underway to steam via Webcast several of the seminars.
At the facility, first and second-year teams will have a chance to participate in a wide of variety of learning activities, ranging from seminars to actual robot demonstrations. The seminars, put on by student veterans and mentors alike, will convey valuable information relevant not only for building a robot, but also for organizing and running a robotics team. Topics such as what to expect and do at competitions, fundraising, and game strategy will also be covered during the seminars and workshops. Several FIRST teams will be invited to bring their 2007 competition robots and demonstrations of these robots in action will complement the seminars. It’s going to be very exciting, and we hope to see your team there!
In related developments, there will also be an orientation and information session for team mentors new to FIRSTand the FIRST Robotics Competition. Planning is underway for this meeting to be held at the University of Minnesota on a weekday evening towards the end of November. Topics will include an overview of what the FIRST experience is, what resources are available to mentors, what it means to be a mentor, and what happens during the build/competition season.