A small but dedicated crowd gathered outside Two Harbors High School the morning of Friday the 13th. Contrary to the unfortunate luck traditionally associated with the day, the weather was relatively warm and sunny, perfect for a parade celebrating two of the town’s FIRST LEGO League teams: the Robo Dweebs and the Pizza Bots. Both teams qualified to compete in the FIRST LEGO state championship, with the parade being their send-off from the town. The fire department and the sheriff were in attendance for the proceedings, which involved taking a roughly U-shaped route through the town down to 1st Avenue and ending at Culver’s. The parade set off with the fire department in the lead, followed by a school bus carrying the Robo Dweebs and a bannered truck carrying the Pizza Bots, then a car advertising Northern STEM Robotics (NSR), the local non-profit supporting both teams. Afterwards, the Pizza Bots planned to head back to Northshore Pizza for a treat while the Robo Dweebs returned to the high school for a four-hour training session.
The FIRST LEGO League challenge judges teams on four aspects: Core Values, meaning good teamwork and good team spirit; Innovation Project, involving identifying a problem then researching and designing a solution; Robot Design, covering the robot’s purpose as well as designing and testing the robot; and finally Robot Game, where the robots are put to the test in 2.5 minute matches to complete as many missions as possible for their designed purpose. The competition also has a central theme, which changes from year to year. For example, last year’s theme involved underwater use. This year’s theme is ‘Unearthed’, focusing on applications in the archaeological field.
Coach Jenna Udenberg, in charge of the Robo Dweebs, has been coaching for 13 years and already has several state trophies under her belt. She expressed hope that this year “we can make it farther.”
The Robo Dweebs consist of four students from Two Harbors High School, grades 5-9. They scored 220 points at regionals, and their Innovation Project this year involves a robot that uses sound frequencies to deter dangerous pests such as snakes, scorpions, and spiders. The team noted that although the original intention for the device is to protect archaeologists at dig sites, it could have far broader use across a number of applications and fields.
The Pizza Bots and their coach and sponsor, Marita Klevgaard of Northshore Pizza, are new to state-level competition, but are also excited to compete.
Their team consists of three homeschooled students who scored 260 points at regionals, with an Innovation Project concerning safer transport of artifacts with a modular case that adjusts its size on the fly using pistons and pneumatics, a better solution than “having to make a cast specialized for each artifact,” according to the team.
The FIRST LEGO state championship was held February 15th, two days after the parade, in Burnsville, MN, at Burnsville High School. There, the Pizza Bots and Robo Dweebs competed against over 70 teams from across Minnesota. Only six teams will advance to the Nationals, and although, as of the 17th, the winners had not yet been announced for the State Championship, both teams seemed calm but enthusiastic to go over their projects at the time of the parade. Regardless of their teams’ progress in the Championships, it is clear they have already had the win of working together and coming up with great ideas and designs.
