The very last competition of our 2012 FIRST Robotics season and the first-ever Minnesota State High School League – FIRST Robotics Championship took place on Saturday, May 19th. The Green Machine along with the one, the only, Zephyr, attended along with 27 Minnesota FIRST robotics teams that qualified for this event. The Championship was in the Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota, and it was insanely hot. With no air conditioning and a lot of stress, all of the FRC teams were trying to stay cool as best they could. The robots too suffered in the wilting heat including one team’s robot, FRC Team 3630-The Breck Stampede, that got so hot in the pits it actually caught fire! Quick action by the people in pit administration put out the fire really fast and everyone (including the robot) was fine. This was a one-day-only competition and everyone was working as fast as possible. There was very little time in the pits, barely enough time to swap out bumpers and change batteries.
Our 2012 robot, Zephyr, had a great last run, she did her best and came back with minimal scrapes and scratches. With a few lucky breaks, we placed 18th after qualifications. That was enough to keep us within eyesight of Team 2220-Blue Twilight, who selected us to become part of their alliance. Our alliance ended our run at the title in the semi-final matches. The teams attending the State Championship got eight hours of personal time with their robots before the competition. During this time, we added stronger side-shields and increased our shooting accuracy. Our drivers also got in a bit more driving practice. Now that the 2012 season is over, Zephyr will take center-stage to visit our sponsors and visit with students in schools and camps across the metro Twin Cities.