The first Saturday in December is designated as FIRSTRobotics Competition Training Day in Minnesota, and this year is no exception! This year, seminars and workshops will be held statewide at four locations. There is the original Minnesota Splash at the University of Minnesota; the satellite MN Splash at Itasca Community College; the 7 Rivers Coalition in LaCrescent/LaCrosse, and new this year, JumpStart at St. Cloud State University. The Green Machine will be presenting at two of these training events, at the U of MN’s MN Splash and at JumpStart at St. Cloud State. At MN Splash, three members of 1816s scouting & strategy subteam will join forces with Team 2052-KnightKrawler to delve into game-day scouting; another group will give an updated version of our team’s presentation on Fundraising & Sponsorship. At JumpStart, the Team members who traveled to the recent oSTEM National Conference will present a workshop on STEM Advocacy; there will be a safety presentation co-presented by our 2016 Safety Captain, Neeshan K., and a group will present on Fundraising & Sponsorship.
In addition, several 1816 mentors will also be presenting at the two separate events. “Getting Ready for Competition” will be presented at MN Splash, while “How to Organize a Successful Team” and other sessions will be mediated by team mentors and advisors. Attendees of JumpStart will have a special mid-day robotics showcase and demos. The Green Machine will be bringing its 2014 robot, ZEKE, to display its ball-throwing capabilities.
Ten years ago, 1816 established in Minnesota the idea of pre-build training with a night of seminars held before the 2007 Minnesota FRC Kickoff event. Those workshops quickly evolved into the creation of Minnesota Splash, a daylong event at the University of Minnesota that aimed to bring rookie and young veteran teams up to speed quickly ahead of the 6-week build period. The original Minnesota Splash is now under the supervision of the FIRST alumni organization GOFIRST. This event continues to serve as both an introduction to vital skills for those new to the FIRST Robotics Competition and a good refresher for experienced members of FRC teams.