Our 12th season as a FIRST team began with our “State of STEM” presentation to the Edina City Council and our fourth appearance at the FIRST National Advocacy Conference. Advocacy techniques honed at this conference and in meetings with the Minnesota Senate and House members were brought home to Minnesota FIRST teams at the first-ever Minnesota FIRST Advocacy Conference, held in September.
Throughout the summer, 1816 hosted LEGO Robotics camps, robot demonstrations, and represented FIRST at the Minnesota State Fair. The Team appeared at six elementary school Open Houses to inspire participation in FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Jr. 18 FLL teams and six FLL Jr. teams formed in the 2016-17 season.
Our outreach work continued in Minneapolis homeless shelters, bringing the FIRST experience to children living in these shelters. The women members and mentors on the Team were invited to demo FIRST robots at the annual Fox9 Girls, Science, and Technology event at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Sponsorships from long-term supporters such as Medtronic, Dow, Graco, and PTC helped underwrite our Team’s robot, competition and community outreach throughout 2017. New sponsors in 2017 included HID Global and Seagate, marking the first time these locally-based companies extended support to FIRST teams in the Twin Cities. In our 2017 Season, 89% of our sponsors were returning sponsors. We are in regular contact with sponsors through showcases, Team updates & outreach activities. There is no doubt about the impact of the FIRST program on members – sponsors have hired 8 Members as interns and employees post-HS.
Three off-season events helped the team hone presentation skills, as well as robot-driving and strategy. Presentations on FIRST topics such as Safety and Fundraising are perennial favorites at these summer events. Our robot earned third and first place trophies at off-season events! During the fall offseason events, additional FRC topics were covered, especially during December training days. Team members and mentors presented 11 of the 36 training sessions offered at Jumpstart in St. Cloud, an off-shoot of 1816’s-developed MN Splash workshops, expanded by organizations and teams such as FRC Team 4607.
Zeppelin was The Green Machine’s 2017 robot that competed in FIRST STEAMworks. Zeppelin was designed to shoot wiffle balls, place gears and climb a rope suspended from a mid-field platform. We continued iterating the capabilities of our robot to better match the needs of the game. Between our first and second regional, we designed a new gear mechanism to help place gears on the mid-field platform. We also modified our drivetrain to reduce weight. After a great performance at Championships, we increased the speed and width of our climbing mechanism to better prepare for the MSHSL State Tournament.
We won our way to the FIRST Championship, St. Louis, via the Lake Superior (Duluth) Regional Chairman’s Award. The Green Machine’s presentation focused on outreach, STEM advocacy, and the impact of FIRST on our team overall. In additional to winning the Regional Chairman’s Award, Team 1816 also won the UL Industrial Safety Award, which signifies exceptional safety measures and precautions taken by a FIRST team. At the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional event, 1816 won the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award, double-qualifying the Team for the World Championships in late April. In addition to winning the Engineering Inspiration Award, the Team was also the recipient of the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award for the second time. Founding 1816 mentor, Laurie Shimizu, was the recipient of the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. This award recognizes a mentor who “leads and inspires using outstanding communication techniques.”
By winning the Chairman’s Award, The Green Machine automatically qualified for the MSHSL State Championship for the 6th year in row. Our robot, Zeppelin, was selected by the alliance of Team 5172-Gators, Greenbush-Middle River, and Team 2169-KingTeC, Prior Lake, to complement the first-seed alliance. Our alliance placed 2nd.
Our 12th season as a FIRST team began with our “State of STEM” presentation to the Edina City Council and our fourth appearance at the FIRST National Advocacy Conference. Advocacy techniques honed at this conference and in meetings with the Minnesota Senate and House members were brought home to Minnesota FIRST teams at the first-ever Minnesota FIRST Advocacy Conference, held in September.
Throughout the summer, 1816 hosted LEGO Robotics camps, robot demonstrations, and represented FIRST at the Minnesota State Fair. The Team appeared at six elementary school Open Houses to inspire participation in FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Jr. 18 FLL teams and six FLL Jr. teams formed in the 2016-17 season.
Our outreach work continued in Minneapolis homeless shelters, bringing the FIRST experience to children living in these shelters. The women members and mentors on the Team were invited to demo FIRST robots at the annual Fox9 Girls, Science, and Technology event at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Sponsorships from long-term supporters such as Medtronic, Dow, Graco, and PTC helped underwrite our Team’s robot, competition and community outreach throughout 2017. New sponsors in 2017 included HID Global and Seagate, marking the first time these locally-based companies extended support to FIRST teams in the Twin Cities. In our 2017 Season, 89% of our sponsors were returning sponsors. We are in regular contact with sponsors through showcases, Team updates & outreach activities. There is no doubt about the impact of the FIRST program on members – sponsors have hired 8 Members as interns and employees post-HS.
Three off-season events helped the team hone presentation skills, as well as robot-driving and strategy. Presentations on FIRST topics such as Safety and Fundraising are perennial favorites at these summer events. Our robot earned third and first place trophies at off-season events! During the fall offseason events, additional FRC topics were covered, especially during December training days. Team members and mentors presented 11 of the 36 training sessions offered at Jumpstart in St. Cloud, an off-shoot of 1816’s-developed MN Splash workshops, expanded by organizations and teams such as FRC Team 4607.
Zeppelin was The Green Machine’s 2017 robot that competed in FIRST STEAMworks. Zeppelin was designed to shoot wiffle balls, place gears and climb a rope suspended from a mid-field platform. We continued iterating the capabilities of our robot to better match the needs of the game. Between our first and second regional, we designed a new gear mechanism to help place gears on the mid-field platform. We also modified our drivetrain to reduce weight. After a great performance at Championships, we increased the speed and width of our climbing mechanism to better prepare for the MSHSL State Tournament.
We won our way to the FIRST Championship, St. Louis, via the Lake Superior (Duluth) Regional Chairman’s Award. The Green Machine’s presentation focused on outreach, STEM advocacy, and the impact of FIRST on our team overall. In additional to winning the Regional Chairman’s Award, Team 1816 also won the UL Industrial Safety Award, which signifies exceptional safety measures and precautions taken by a FIRST team. At the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional event, 1816 won the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award, double-qualifying the Team for the World Championships in late April. In addition to winning the Engineering Inspiration Award, the Team was also the recipient of the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award for the second time. Founding 1816 mentor, Laurie Shimizu, was the recipient of the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. This award recognizes a mentor who “leads and inspires using outstanding communication techniques.”
By winning the Chairman’s Award, The Green Machine automatically qualified for the MSHSL State Championship for the 6th year in row. Our robot, Zeppelin, was selected by the alliance of Team 5172-Gators, Greenbush-Middle River, and Team 2169-KingTeC, Prior Lake, to complement the first-seed alliance. Our alliance placed 2nd.