Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816, The Green Machine, provided demonstrations of its 2007 competition robot and promoted the upcoming FIRST Minnesota Regional to guests attending the “Show and Tell Donor Lunch Program” hosted by the Edina Education Fund. Before the luncheon/fundraiser at Edina High School on Monday, the more than 300 attendees were able to see for themselves how their donations have tremendously affected the lives of Edina students, from kindergarten “prop boxes,” to the EHS Breakfast Book Club, to Edina Robotics itself! In 2006 and 2007, The Green Machine received two generous seed grants from the Edina Education Fund, which helped get the team up and running. The 2007 grant also underwrote the team’s participation in “The Fuel Cell Competition,” a pilot test of hydrogen fuel cells and applicability to robotics. Team members demonstrated the pneumatic-lifting capabilities of the 2007 competition robot by lifting guests on its dual-ramp system; answered questions about the FIRST Robotics competition, and explained why a giant, red, 40-inch, eight-pound “Trackball” was being rolled around the hallways of Edina High School.
