Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, was a Finalist in the Newton Division of the FIRSTRobotics Championship Competition at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome April 12-14, 2007. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” The team of 33 Edina High School students participated as one of the 86 teams represented in the Newton Division of the competition. The FIRST Robotics Championship is an international competition in which 344 teams and 8,600 high-school students from five countries participated. The Edina team was in a three-team Alliance that advanced all the way to the division finals. FIRST’s competitive game this year for the robot challenge was called Rack ‘N’ Roll.
Edina’s team was selected by the third seeded team — Team 1124, The Überbots of Avon, CT to join in an alliance with them and the fourth seeded team — Team 1592, The Bionic Tigers of Cocoa, FL. Edina fielded a mighty defensive robot (5’ tall, ~110 lbs.) with special capabilities to run both autonomously according to pre-programmed code with sensor feedback, and under driver control. The robot could deploy its pneumatically-assisted ramps during the endgame to lift the robots of its alliance partners 12 inches off the ground to score maximum bonus points. During the qualifying rounds, Edina’s team was seeded 35th.
Earlier this season, The Green Machine rolled home from FIRST Robotics’ Wisconsin Regional Competition bearing the DaimlerChrysler Team Spirit Award which “celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork.” Edina Robotics has been instrumental in FIRST’s huge expansion in Minnesota this year, increasing the number of FIRST teams from two last year to 16 teams competing from the state this year. The Edina team was third seed in the qualifying rounds of the Wisconsin Regional Competition and advanced to the semifinals before encountering mechanical difficulties. The team was invited to compete at the Championship by virtue of their participation in a fuel cell pilot project. The Edina team was among the 30 teams (of 1,300 total FIRST teams) to win the right to participate in the special investigation of fuel cells.
“Being at the Championship is an awesome experience,” noted team captain Chris Miller, EHS senior and team founder. “We’ve been able to learn from mentors who have an incredible amount of experience. And in competition, we were able to put all our work to the test.” The team is excited to be able to add the Division Finalist award to Edina High School’s trophy case.
The team gratefully acknowledges the support of its major corporate sponsors: Honeywell International, Inc., Medtronic, Inc., NASA, Edina Education Fund, and Ecolab. Other important contributors included Kaemmerer Group, the intellectual property law firm of Schwegman, Lundberg, Woessner, and Kluth, Geek Squad, Dunwoody College of Technology, Hennepin Technical College, and the Student Council at Edina High School.