Minnesota teens test their robotics skills daily at the fair
The Wayzata High School Robotics team stands behind a control station while their robot competes in a "field" filled with obstacles and challenges.
Photo by Janelle Calvo-Nieto and Erika Roedl
The Woodbury Math and Sciences Academy's robot attempts to load up a ball to shoot it into a goal. Photo by Erika Roedl and Janelle Calvo-Nieto
Woodbury's robot shoots a goal. The competition at the fair provides challenges to test the robot's engineering.
Photo by Janelle Calvo-Nieto and Erika Roedl
See two or three high school robotics teams compete daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Education Building during the Minnesota State Fair.
When the Woodbury Math and Science Academy’s robot reached its arm up to grasp a wooden tower and pulled itself off the ground, it pretty much guaranteed a win for the robotics team at the Minnesota State Fair last Friday.
Woodbury was competing against Wayzata High School’s team. Every day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Education Building at the state fair, 2-3 high school robotics teams from around the state will show off their engineering skills in competitions against each other in a “field” filled with obstacles and challenges. A total of 22 teams are competing.
The teens were given six weeks and a box of parts to construct their robots.
For this year’s competition, the robots are required to be able to fit perfectly into a narrow space, score soccer balls in a goal, loop around a 10-foot-tall tower, and lift themselves completely off the ground by attaching themselves to the tower.
Until Woodbury’s robot lifted itself of the ground, the two teams were pretty well matched. Both were able to perfectly park their robots, like in a parking space, and Wayzata’s robot more consistently scored soccer goals. Woodbury’s robot was designed to suck up soccer balls and shoot them into the goal, but sometimes it failed to work. But Wayzata’s robot just pushed balls into the goal and was more consistent.
The robotics teams exist because of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a non-profit public charity that aims “to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders,” the founder, Dean Kamen, says on FIRST’s website.
On the enclosed obstacle course where the machines compete, students were honest about their robots’ abilities. Allison Crump, 17, a Woodbury team member, said although her team’s robot can lift itself off the ground and shoot balls, it’s “not as movable” as other robots.
One of her opponents on the Wayzata High School team, Jared McQuinn, 15, said his team’s robot could score goals and roll over a large speed-bump like obstacle on the field, but couldn’t lift itself.
FIRST offers high school students the opportunity to work with real engineers, but the engineers aren’t the ones building the robots. The mentors are only there to answer questions and give advice.
The program started in New Hampshire in 1992 with 28 teams. Now, there are more than 1,800 teams worldwide. The program came to Minnesota in 2005 with Edina starting the first robotics team in Minnesota, said Dave Manninen, the Minnesota State Fair’s education superintendent.
Manninen said the reason he wanted the robotics competitions at the fair was to “create more interest [in engineering] at an early age.”
On Friday, it seemed Manninen got his wish. As parents moved two little boys on to another exhibit, the boys looked longingly back at the robots, and mumbled “but” – clearly not wanting to leave the robots behind.
In this clip, the Wayzata High School robotics team guides its robot to shoot a soccer goal and climb over a barrier to retrieve another ball. Video by Janelle Calvo-Nieto and Erika Roedl.
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