This 2011 LOGO Motion season is going by much too fast. We are already done with our two Minnesota regionals (Lake Superior and North Star) and are just weeks away from joining the 350-plus FRC teams that have earned a spot in the World Championships in St. Louis.
Our season so far has been an overwhelming success. The Green Machine has claimed many awards thus far: Emily B., our captain was named to the Dean’s List in Duluth. At that same event, Emily C., our safety captain, was also named “Safety Star of the Day.” We won the UL Industrial Safety and the Engineering Inspiration awards as well, the latter of which claimed our spot in St. Louis. Our website was also given the “Best Website” award at the Lake Superior Regional as well as the North Star Regional in Minneapolis. The North Star event featured some big name speakers as well; we watched as Emily B. was called up to the field to meet again with Senator Al Franken, who has taken a keen interest in promoting science, technology and engineering initiatives.
But, no matter how nice all of these awards are, I’m sure anyone on our team would be quick to tell you our biggest accomplishment this year was extending our practice of gracious professionalism. We assisted every team that requested aid, whether it was re-imaging their Classmate computers or re-writing robot code or handing out brackets, tubing and motors. We are proud to be the team that Team 2177-The Robettes came to for spare parts, including Tetrix motors and a freshly-charged battery, that took their minibot and Alliance to victory in North Star! Team 1816 believes that every FRC team must play to the best of their ability, and we hope to make it happen at every possible event.
Plus, have I mentioned ZEEBO? We have come a long way from the chalkboard designs at the beginning of the season. Our 2011 robot has been designed, redesigned, built, and rebuilt over and over again. At the team meeting this week, there was a proud moment for all of us when we were able to declare that the robot had performed every task we had wanted it to do before we crated for St. Louis. Our minibot (Zaboomafoo) is finally as fast as desired and works well every time. Our autonomous code showed that it was a dangerous force to be reckoned with, helping post the highest-scores in North Star! ZEEBO’s double-jointed claw can put up a logo with ease. It’s simple, it looks good, and it works, a true testament to all of the work we put in to designing and building this robot.
With a robust robot ready for competition, we are preparing for our final matches of the year. Excitement is building, and I personally don’t know if I can last these three weeks before we get on the plane. Once again we would like to thank all of our sponsors: Medtronic Inc., Dow Water Solutions, Tornier Inc., Graco, Ecolab, Larsen Design, Stratasys, 3M Co., Banners to Go and Edina Public Schools. We wouldn’t be able to accomplish all that we do, nor attend Championships, if it were not for your support and encouragement. Thank you!
Follow 1816 as we prepare for St. Louis. Visit our website often, check out our Facebook page, or receive the occasional tweet about by signing up on Twitter, @FIRSTteam1816. The events will stream live on the FIRST website as well, and we hear there will be plenty of surprises during the World Championships, April 27th-30th.