Team 1816 was in top form at the 2009 Minnesota North Star Regional April 2nd – 4th..After finishing in the quarterfinals weeks earlier at the Wisconsin Regional, the team felt confident an improvement in standing could be accomplished. To that end, a small group of builders created a dumping mechanism to replace the shooter previously mounted on the top of the 2009 robot, Zeus. Since the dumper had to be built separate from the robot, much of Thursday’s practice rounds were spent attaching the dumper and getting ready for the start of the qualification rounds on Friday. Even before Zeus took the field, team media leader Evan S. filmed and edited a time lapse of the lengthy floor setup in Mariucci Arena, a surprise feature during the closing ceremonies on Saturday.
The time spent re-building Zeus was well worth it. The Green Machine finished with a 6-1 record in the qualification rounds, placing it in fourth place overall and able to select its own alliance for the elimination rounds on Saturday. The Green Machine selected Team 2472-Centennial Sr. High School, Circle Pines, Minn., and Team 2418-Minot, N. D. Our alliance did well, making it all the way to the finals, before losing to the second-seeded alliance. Congratulations to the winners, Team 79-Krunch, Tarpon Springs, Florida; Team 2970-Kenosha, WI, and Team 2549-Millerbots, Washburn High School, Minneapolis. The winning alliance all earned invitations to the Championships in Atlanta, Ga.
In addition to success on the playing field, the team did well in non-build related areas. After winning the award at the Wisconsin Regional for Best Website, the team repeated, also receiving the award at North Star. The team also took home their first-ever Autodesk Visualization Award for their animation “Green Power,” which can be viewed here. Both the animation and website are now entered in their respective categories at the FIRST Championships.
Mark Lawrence, founding mentor and the team’s Director of Technical Operations, was named the winner of the Woodie Flowers Award, presented by Woodie Flowers himself! The award, named after the FIRST cofounder and MIT professor emeritus, celebrates mentors who “lead, inspire, and empower using excellent communication skills.” He also is now eligible for the Championship title, which will be announced in Atlanta April 16 – 18, 2009.
The Green Machine heartily congratulates fellow Minnesota team and 2009 North Star Chairman’s Award winner Team 2169- King TeC, Prior Lake. They earned a trip to Atlanta, where they will compete for the Championship Chairman’s Award title. Other Minnesota teams competing in Atlanta include Team 2220-Blue Twilight, Eagan, which won the Engineering Inspiration Award; Team 2500-Herbotics, Patrick Henry High School, Minneapolis, which took home the same award at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional, and Team 2470-Bloomington Jefferson High School, Bloomington, which was part of the winning alliance at the 10,000 Lakes Regional.