World Chairman’s Finalists, State Champion Alliance Captain-3rd place Finish, Core Values strengthen team sustainability.
The Green Machine capped its 13th season as a FIRST team with a double-amazing finish. At the World Championship in Detroit, we were named 1 of 3 Chairman’s Finalists for our FIRST and STEM outreach, and then battled our way to a 3rd place finish as an Alliance Captain at the 7th annual MSHSL-FIRST Robotics State Championship!
ZzBot, The Green Machine’s 2018 robot, competed in the game called “FIRST Power Up.” ZzBot stacked yellow-fabric covered milk crates (called “power cubes”) onto a mid-field, teeter-totter balance, as well as into ground-level scales called switches. Our robot climbed from a mid-field platform at the end of each match, sometimes lifting two other robots as well. We continued iterating the capabilities of our robot to better match the needs of the game. Between our first and second regional, we made modifications on the elevator and wiring with help from our friends the Gators (FRC 5172, Greenbush-Middle River, MN). After a great performance at Championships, we tweaked the elevator once more to better prepare for the MSHSL State Tournament.
STEM advocacy remains on the forefront of our outreach efforts. Our “State of STEM” report to the Edina City Council and our fifth appearance at the FIRST National Advocacy Conference. We founded the Minnesota Advocacy Conference – or MAC – to teach even more Minnesota teams to bring FIRST to their legislators. MAC is now the annual STEM Advocacy Day at the Minnesota State Capitol. In 2018, STEM Day attracted over 300 legislators, visitors, and robotics team members. Three women on our team also spoke before Senator Tina Smith at a Women in the Workplace roundtable. With our help, our state Senator, Melisa Franzen (DFL-49), wrote a bill to define STEM Education in Minnesota. This is the first step towards funding STEM programs, which will affect every student in our state.
At our annual team retreat, we immersed rookies and veterans alike into our team culture via team building and a deep dive into defining who we are as a team by writing our Core Values. We were further challenged to determine how to celebrate our Core Values — Respect, Trust, Inclusivity, Commitment, and Joy of Life –in our daily lives as well as when we’re together as a Team.
Throughout the year, 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. All levels of FIRST are now in our district, for a total of 25 teams. 316 students are directly engaged with FIRST, up 50% from 2015. 18 FLL teams and six FLL Jr. teams formed and competed in the 2018 Season.
Our STEM outreach continued to reach students who do not have easy access to FIRST programs continued in Minneapolis homeless shelters. We celebrated the successes of these students with mini-Expos, a chance for the students to explain to parents, relatives, and friends what they designed and built. 1816 women members and mentors demonstrated FIRST robots at the 14th annual Fox9 Girls, Science, and Technology event at the Science Museum of Minnesota before 11,000 participants.1816 members worked with the girls on 30+ Girl Scout troops to earn their STEM badges.
Sponsorships from long-term supporters such as Medtronic, Dow, and Graco helped underwrite our Team’s robot, competition and community outreach throughout 2018. New sponsors in 2018 included Microsoft Corporation, with whom we hosted an event at the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America. In our 2018 Season, 90% of our sponsors were returning sponsors. Many of our presentations were honed at off-season events, where we were called on to present on topics including Safety, Fundraising, and Core Values.