The Green Machine – Team 1816 had a strong finish in our second competition, the Minnesota North Star Regional, at Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota. At this Week 5 event, The Green Machine was the Captain of the Finalist Alliance! We also were awarded the Gracious Professionalism Award, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and for a second time this season, won a UL Safety Honorable Mention for Industrial Safety. We were also honored to be chosen by other teams at North Star as the Number One Team for Pit Safety. We had a fantastic time participating in the largest event outside of Championships, with 123 teams in two very different competitions that were right across the street from each other.
As for Zeke, with our new collector attached, 1816 ended with an 8-2 record in qualifications and an overall 3rdseed ranking. As the third seed alliance captain, we selected Team 3130 – the East Ridge Robotic Ominous RaptorS and Team 3926 – MPArors to join us in our alliance. If it weren’t for an untimely failure of our Gearbox transmission, we are pretty sure we could have battled to the end. However, we are thrilled that the winning alliance lead by Team 2177 – the Robettes, along with their alliance partners Team 4778 – Stombots and Team 3042 – Cobalt Catalysts will be joining us in St. Louis for Championships. During the event, we gave tours to up-and-coming potential FIRSTers from the Marcy Open School, a Cub Scout troop and a FIRST Lego Team from Lakeville. We also gave tours to our visitors from our newest sponsor Symantec, who enjoyed learning what impact the FIRST program has had on our student members. With the countdown to the FIRSTChampionship event April 23, we are working hard to best represent both Edina and Minnesota in St. Louis.