Schools

Eagan High School Robotics Team Gears Up for Competition Season

The team will compete in two regional tournaments this month.

The FIRST Robotics team always strives for success.

But instead of going into competition with the cutthroat mentality of their athletic counterparts, the team aims to embody gracious professionalism, said robotics faculty advisor Jim Lynch.

This spring, the EHS team will compete in two regional tournaments, the Lake Superior Regional in Duluth, and the Minnesota North Star Regional in Minneapolis. The team hopes to qualify for the Minnesota State High School League Championships at their first regional tournament in Duluth.

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With 61 members, the EHS robotics team is the largest in the state. The team also includes 25 adult mentors, ranging from graduate students to airline mechanics to nuclear engineers. The team, which competes under the name “Blue Twilight,” was started in 2006—making it among the oldest in Minnesota.

The robotics team’s season begins in January, when FIRST Robotics sends out information about the task the robots must complete in the competitive meets and a kit of parts and electronics for each robot.

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The challenge this year is called a “Rebound Rumble.” Each team must design a robot capable of picking up and shooting a basketball. In a tournament setting, the robots play against one another in teams of three, competing to score the most points.

Following the season kickoff, the team spent more than six weeks designing and building their robot. Over the course of the season, students involved in EHS robotics perform a wide range of tasks, including building, programming and construction, as well as marketing and bookkeeping.

“It actually prepares them for real jobs,” said Dave Hendricksen, the team’s lead mentor and a software architect and Thomson Reuters. Team members learn many important professional skills, including group work, leadership, team building, time management, how to execute a presentation and finance, Hendricksen added.

Blue Twilight’s primary goal for the 2012 season is to win the Chairman’s Award, the highest accolade that can be bestowed upon a robotics team. The award honors the overall efforts of the winning team, taking into account each team’s performance in competition, as well as its community outreach. Winning the Chairman’s Award qualifies would qualify Blue Twilight to compete in the Annual Robotics Championship in St. Louis.

Blue Twilight is largely funded by sponsors. Lynch receives a small coach stipend from the school district, students pay a $100 activity fee and the team has received several grants. However, local business heavyweights such as Lockheed Martin and 3M foot much of the bill.

Between entry fees and building materials, a robotics season can cost upwards of $15,000.

However, as far as Lynch is concerned, the robotics experience is well worth its steep price.

“They learn so many different things,” said Lynch.

“It’s really rewarding,” said Taegan Shields, an EHS sophomore and first year robotics team member. “I’ve made so many friends.”

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