Team 1816 has finished unpacking from our successful competition at the new Lake Superior Regional, Duluth, and is now re-packing and re-stocking for the North Star Regional at Mariucci Arena, March 31 – April 2. The new Lake Superior Regional was a success, both on the field and in the pits.
The Green Machine didn’t know what to expect because we had barely practiced with our robot. We weren’t sure how our robot would measure up to other robots in the regional. The first few matches were a little slow with tiny problems getting in the way of our robots performance. At lunch break on Friday we were seeded 33rd. After that the pit crew really stepped up and delivered the drive team a solid robot. We went on to win match after match, eventually giving us the 8th seed in the tournament after seeding matches. We were picked by Team 2052 – KnightKrawler, and along with Team 2418 – Tomahawks went all the way to the semifinals where we lost to the alliance lead by Team 2512-Duluth East Daredevils that eventually went on to win it all. Yet, little did we know our day was far from complete.
The team gathered in the stands for the second awards ceremony of the regional. Already on Friday, our safety captain Emily C. was awarded the “Safety Star of the Day” by the Safety Advisors from Underwriters Laboratories. Friday evening, we won “Best Website,” and our captain, Emily B., was named a Finalist to the prestigious Dean’s List. She received her award directly from FIRST founder Dean Kamen.
On Saturday, our attention to safety was again acknowledged by UL. The Green Machine won the Industrial Safety award for our performance in this regional! Then came the Engineering Inspiration Award. This award is given to a team that “best demonstrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school as well as their community.” The event announcer was trying to tease the name of the team who had won as he read the criteria for the award. Heads quickly started to pop up and look around as the words “Green”, “SPLASH”, and “Machine” were tossed into the mix. Then came the official announcement that we had indeed won the “Engineering Inspiration Award” for this inaugural Lake Superior Regional. We were now qualified to represent our school and community at the World Championships in St. Louis, an honor we intend to live up to.
For that reason, we can’t wait until the North Star Regional and the World Championships in St. Louis. Again, we thank our sponsors and adult volunteers who make this all possible for us. We hope you will join us at North Star! Your names are proudly displayed on our robot, ZEEBO, and emblazoned on our pit signage. Thank you Medtronic Inc., our highest-level sponsor since 2006; Dow Water Solutions; Tornier Inc.; Graco; Ecolab Inc.; Larsen Design; Stratasys; 3M Co., Banners to Go, and Edina Public Schools. Your support has made this winning season possible, and we are very grateful for all that you have done for us.