2008

  In 2008, this was the very first year in which the Herobotics competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition. They did not know what to expect as they have never even heard of FIRST. As they open their first kit of parts at the Kick-Off at the University of Minnesota, they were astonished by the technology which was available at their disposal. Their first order of business was to come up with design for a robot for the competition. They made their way to their only workshop for the season which was at the Bakken Museum. This was the season which the Herobotics was testing out the water and finding out what FIRST Robotics is all about. As the work day ended, they would shovel the robot into the back of the Team Mom’s car, and drop the students off on the way to storing the robot at school. Other than working at the Bakken, they hallways of Patrick Henry High School was the alternative work area for the Herobotics. As the students are cutting away at different materials, teachers and students would walk by and eye the working students. They competed at the 10,000 Lakes Regional competition. The team faired pretty well as they were a strong nucleus for any alliance they were a part of. The Herobotics was a selected to form alliances with Team 2227 and Team 1987 and competed in the quarter finals. The final result of the 2008, 10,000 Lakes Regional for the Herobotics was 8th place with a 6 wins and 5 losses.

2009

  Entering 2009, this was the Herobotics sophomore year in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Going into the season, they were determined to build off a strong rookie season after ending up placing 8th in the 10,000 Lakes Regional competitions. They were confident that this was their year to make it to the nationals in Atlanta Georgia.

They competed in two separate regional competitions. The very first competition of the year was the Wisconsin Regional which was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Heroboics Team shared a bus with the Edina, Green Machine to the Wisconsin Regional. When the Team entered the stadium, they were amazed by the number of impressive robots which they encountered on the way to their pit area. Many problems were encountered as they try to dissect varies problems of the robot from the programming to the dimensions of the robot. It took the entire first day of the competition to manipulate the robot to meet the constraints of the competition. During the 2nd day of the competition, the team was trying to figure out the most effective combination for the drive team. It took several matches to designate the human player to score the orbit balls. On the 3rd day of competition, our lead driver fell ill and another team member, who had no prior experience of driving the robot, took over as co-pilot. The team designated this competition as a practice regional as many aspects of the team, game, and strategy must be resolved before moving on to the 10,000 Lakes Regional. The Herobotics ended the Regional with 3 wins and 5 losses.

After the Wisconsin Regional, they reflected on their performance. They looked to install a scoring device on the robot. After hours of brainstorming, they came up with the idea to install a dumper system. The Herobotics Team was ready to bounce back at the 10,000 Lakes Regional on their home turf.

The first thing on everyone’s mind was to rush to the pit area to unpack the robot, so they can install their newly engineered dumper. The team broke up into 3 groups. One group unpacked the crate, another organized the pit and the third worked on installing the dumper. There was a mad scramble to get everything organized and installed so there will be enough time to have a test run with the newly installed dumper. New strategies were implemented and altered every match which was a cause for concern as one effective game plan was never decided upon. The Herobotics ended up with a record of 2 wins, 5 losses and a tie. Outside of the match area, 3 students from the Herobotics were putting on a presentation in front of a panel of judges for the Chairman’s award. As they were anxiously waiting in the crowd during the awards ceremony, they announced the winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award, Team 2500 Herobotics. The team burst up with excitement as they were not aware of their nomination of the award. They then discovered that the award automatically awards them a spot in the FIRST Robotics Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first thing that came to mind when preparing for the championship was, “How are we going to get there?” The mentors and students were brainstorming and calling up new sponsors trying to find funding for transportation. Luckily, they found a new sponsor in Medtronic which helped pay for a flight to Atlanta. A majority of the students on the team have never been on a plane, so emotions range from anxiety to excitement. As they entered the Georgia Dome, they encountered a sea of booths which housed various FIRST Robotics team from all over the world. The competitions were intensified because of the competitors’ vast experience. Every team which made it to the championships each went through a tough trial to earn their spot. The Herobotics knew they were underdogs in the competition, but they were determined to climb up the ranks and prove their toughness. Each match was tough as they felt their robot was the least effective during the majority of the match, but they continue to fight. The Herobotics team competed in the Curie division at the 2009 FIRST Robotics Championship with a record of 2 wins and 5 losses.

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2010 Herobotics Team 2500.