Send Minutebots to FIRST Championship!
Donation protected
St. Paul Central High School's robotics team, the MinuteBots, won second place at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition on March 29. The team has earned the opportunity to go to the FIRST Championship competition in St. Louis, MO, 4/23 - 4/26. This is the first robotics team in the St. Paul School District to win this opportunity!
CAN YOU HELP?
The team has spent its limited budget! 3M Corporation has graciously donated the registration fee for the FIRST Championship competition. But the team needs to raise $15,000 to cover travel, lodging, and food expenses and build a solid team for next year.
If you can help, please donate here or send a contribution to MinuteBot Boosters at Anchor Bank, 1570 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104, attn: Josh Lepp.
For more information, check out the team website, www.minutebots.org.
KEEP READING FOR MORE ON THIS GREAT STORY . . .
Those Magnificent Kids and : their Robot!
St Paul Central High School's robotics team, the MinuteBots, on Saturday March 29th won second place at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition and earned the opportunity to go to the National competition in St Louis MO. FIRST Robotics sponsors this event, which includes teams from all over the world. This is the first robotics team in the St Paul School District to win this opportunity!
This win is extraordinary because this is only the MinuteBots' second year. Last year's robot barely had a working drive train. Most of the students were new to the team this year, and to robotics. No one would have bet on the MinuteBots to reach semifinals, let alone finals and a national opportunity. But those 19 kids from Central are determined and driven. They have two great coaches and mentors from 3M, a mom with access to a metal shop, and a University of Minnesota engineering student who kept showing up to teach the students pneumatics. Against all odds, they designed and built a working robot and operated it successfully under the pressure of intense match competition.
FIRST Robotics had issued a challenge to teams across the nation. Teams had six weeks to build their robots. Robots have to manage a large exercise ball, pass it to other robots, and maneuver it through a low goal and a high goal. The MinuteBots robot is built to support working with other robots, and has the ability to be effective in all competition zones. The robot can catch a ball thrown from a human player, catch a ball from another robot, and score quickly. This year's competition scoring favored assists, so the MinuteBot strategy was incredibly effective. Teams competed in alliances and, in the final matches, the MinuteBots selected St Paul Harding's KnightBots as one of their alliance members.
St Paul Central is an urban school and the students are a cross section of the neighborhoods that surround the school. In robotics, they gravitated to the areas that interested them. Some worked on programming, some on wiring, some in pneumatics, some on the chassis, etc. The FIRST program showed the students what could be done with real-world robotics. They also worked on videos, marketing, and budgeting. Participating in this experience was a life changer for these kids and every one of them is grateful to 3M for the sponsorship of all the St Paul School District teams and for the incredible mentors.
Here is a link to the highlight reel the team put together from Regionals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sWpcQ3F_hk&feature=youtu.be
Here is a link that explains the 2014 competition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxp4dkMQ1Vo
CAN YOU HELP?
The team has spent its limited budget! 3M Corporation has graciously donated the registration fee for the FIRST Championship competition. But the team needs to raise $15,000 to cover travel, lodging, and food expenses and build a solid team for next year.
If you can help, please donate here or send a contribution to MinuteBot Boosters at Anchor Bank, 1570 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104, attn: Josh Lepp.
For more information, check out the team website, www.minutebots.org.
KEEP READING FOR MORE ON THIS GREAT STORY . . .
Those Magnificent Kids and : their Robot!
St Paul Central High School's robotics team, the MinuteBots, on Saturday March 29th won second place at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition and earned the opportunity to go to the National competition in St Louis MO. FIRST Robotics sponsors this event, which includes teams from all over the world. This is the first robotics team in the St Paul School District to win this opportunity!
This win is extraordinary because this is only the MinuteBots' second year. Last year's robot barely had a working drive train. Most of the students were new to the team this year, and to robotics. No one would have bet on the MinuteBots to reach semifinals, let alone finals and a national opportunity. But those 19 kids from Central are determined and driven. They have two great coaches and mentors from 3M, a mom with access to a metal shop, and a University of Minnesota engineering student who kept showing up to teach the students pneumatics. Against all odds, they designed and built a working robot and operated it successfully under the pressure of intense match competition.
FIRST Robotics had issued a challenge to teams across the nation. Teams had six weeks to build their robots. Robots have to manage a large exercise ball, pass it to other robots, and maneuver it through a low goal and a high goal. The MinuteBots robot is built to support working with other robots, and has the ability to be effective in all competition zones. The robot can catch a ball thrown from a human player, catch a ball from another robot, and score quickly. This year's competition scoring favored assists, so the MinuteBot strategy was incredibly effective. Teams competed in alliances and, in the final matches, the MinuteBots selected St Paul Harding's KnightBots as one of their alliance members.
St Paul Central is an urban school and the students are a cross section of the neighborhoods that surround the school. In robotics, they gravitated to the areas that interested them. Some worked on programming, some on wiring, some in pneumatics, some on the chassis, etc. The FIRST program showed the students what could be done with real-world robotics. They also worked on videos, marketing, and budgeting. Participating in this experience was a life changer for these kids and every one of them is grateful to 3M for the sponsorship of all the St Paul School District teams and for the incredible mentors.
Here is a link to the highlight reel the team put together from Regionals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sWpcQ3F_hk&feature=youtu.be
Here is a link that explains the 2014 competition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxp4dkMQ1Vo
Organizer
Maureen Farry Dolan
Organizer
St. Paul, MN
