Come and join us! Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816 invites you to its annual SPARK Day Open House. Saturday, January 29, 12 noon to 2 PM, come and meet our 2011 robot-in-progress, ZEEBO. SPARK Day is all about showing you, our community, what FIRST Robotics is all about.  If you’d like to know a whole lot more out robotics and our FIRST team, we would love to meet you!

This year’s game, LOGO MOTION, challenges teams to build two robots. The game begins with a 15 second autonomous period during which pre-programmed robots have a chance to place  yellow innertubes on a scoring rack. After that, teams will try to score as many points as possible by hanging additional tubes on the scoring rack. And in the very last few moments of the match, teams will attempt to race a second, minibot to the top of a 10 foot pole. The first team to have its minibot ring the buzzer at the top of the pole will earn major bonus points. On January 29, come see how much progress we have made toward building both robots.

This season marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of FIRST.  Dean Kamen, a prominent American inventor, established FIRST to help re-kindle the next generation’s interest in science and technology. The goal is to inspire and motivate young people to dream of becoming the next generation of science and technology heroes by having an intense, hands-on experience while still in school. FIRST is a worldwide organization with teams for kids of all ages! This season, there are more than 50,000 high school students and 2,073 teams competing at regional competitions as well as the world championships in St. Louis, MO, this April. 

The Green Machine would like to thank all of our parents, mentors, corporate sponsors, school administration and faculty, and we’d like you to personally see what you’re helping FRC Team 1816 accomplish. SPARK Day is the perfect time to meet with and ask questions, whether it’s of our team’s programmers, the members using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to “build” our robot before we cut aluminum, members from the build team, or members working in animation and media.

Please enter via the main entrance of Valley View Middle School, 6750 Valley View Road. Team members will be waiting to take you on a guided tour of our facilities. If you plan on coming please RSVP to contact. Thanks for your support, and we’ll see you there.