This year, The Green Machine competed at two FIRST regional competitions – Lake Superior Regional in Duluth, MN, and the Medtronic Foundation Regional (formerly 10,000 Lakes) in Minneapolis, MN.
At Lake Superior, the Team faced challenges with its collector and ranked 27th at the end of qualifications. We were awarded the Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers for the Team’s sustainability efforts and work to communicate, educate, and advocate for STEM in the community and nation. The Team was also recognized for its safety program, led by our rookie Safety Captain Nate B., with the “Hard Hat” award. Assistant Captain Morgan S. was named one of two Dean’s List Finalists for her FIRST advocacy and STEM outreach leadership.
Between events, 1816’s Build Subteam worked diligently to improve the reliability and robustness of the cube collector on our 2018 robot, Zzbot.The Control Systems and Programming Subteam worked to increase autonomous scoring for both the switch and scale.
This hard work paid off at the Medtronic Foundation Regional, where we ranked 16th at the end of qualifications. The Team was the first round pick for the 4th alliance, captained by Team 233-The Pink Team. Team 3102 Tech-No-Tigers rounded out what was immediately called “the watermelon alliance.” The alliance finished as semi-finalists.
Our Team’s founding sponsor Medtronic shadowed us throughout the event. They created a video highlighting 1816 team members and mentors, which was featured on Medtronic’s social media, highlighting their dedication to the future STEM workforce.
The Minneapolis-based Regional served as a great way to connect with the FRC teams that we help throughout the year. We visited the North Star Regional, where our newest Edina rookie FRC Team – 7019 Techno Logic from Chesterton Academy – was competing. We were happy to see Team 7019 win the Rookie Inspiration Award! Team 1816 also worked closely with Team 2239 -Technocrats, from Hopkins High School, on their pit presentations to Judges. Team 2239 received the Entrepreneurship Award, their first award in 10 years!
In the latest expression of 1816’s commitment to Joy of Life, we also enjoyed team socials with Team 5172-Gators from Greenbush, MN. Several Team alumni visited during the competition. Matthew Balafas (‘14) and Evan Pastor (‘15), who are now key members of the University of Minnesota’s Solar Car engineering team, were on hand to speak to visitors about the Solar Car.
At the Medtronic Foundation Regional, Team 1816 was the recipient of the Chairman’s Award. This award is the most prestigious award in FIRST competition, and honors the team that best represents a model for others to emulate. This award qualifies us to compete at the FIRST World Championships in Detroit, MI on April 24-28 2018.
The Team will be presenting seminars on Core Values and Advocacy at both World Championships in Detroit and Houston.
The Chairman’s Award also qualifies us for the MSHSL State Robotics Tournament in May. Team 1816 is one of only 2 teams statewide to qualify for the tournament for 7 consecutive years.
Our Team is grateful to our sponsors and contributors for their support this season. We are excited to represent our sponsors, community, and state at the World Championship!