This season has been an exciting time for everyone on the team, and our growth since last season has been truly remarkable.
Build season
We had an amazing build season. We started by sharing ideas, collaborating with other teams and analyzing this year’s game. After juggling lots of ideas from team members, we came to a consensus on our robot design. This year brought many new experiences, from building bumpers to reaching out to sponsors to sustain the build season. That was something we focused on less last year, when we were working on a simpler robot design. With mentor knowledge, many late nights and student dedication, we built the robot we thought best fit the game. That is exactly what we did.
Lake Superior Regional
Our competition season started March 3–5 at the DECC for the Lake Superior Regional. We traded first, second and third place during the second day and finished that day in 1st place out of 63 teams. At the end of the regional we received the Industrial Design Award, which celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge. We also finished the three-day competition as finalists, with a record of 11-5-0. As finalists, we earned the opportunity to attend the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.
FIRST Championship
Meeting and working with teams from countries all over the world was a fantastic experience for everyone. We started qualification matches with motor trouble on the left side of the robot. After an hour of work from the build team, Sir B.A.R.D. was back in commission. Later in the competition, friction broke a shaft in the jointed arm. After those fixes we were back in shape, and we finished 38th out of 75 teams in the Galileo Division with a 5-5-0 record.
State tournament
We were also invited to the Minnesota State High School League competition on May 20 and 21 at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, as one of the top 30 of Minnesota’s 208 FRC teams. After minor adjustments to the arm and shooter, we finished 19th with a 3-5-0 record.
Thank you to all our sponsors, coaches, mentors, parents and, finally, all the students for making this year such a success.