The Blaine High School Robotics team was founded in 2007. When the team registered, we were assigned the team number 2181 by FRC, which is the number we compete under to this day. Since then, Team 2181 has been recognized in FRC for various accomplishments such as the Imagery Award, Industrial Design Award, and Quality Award.
September, October - The team meets to compete in an offseason event to ramp up for the new school year. We train and onboard new members. We typically meet twice a week.
October, November, December - Our team competes in something called MinneTrials. This is more laidback version of the main build season. We split up into small subteams and build scaled down robots to learn the design, build, electrical, and programming process. We compete in early December.
First Saturday in January - KICKOFF! We learn the Offical FIRST Robotics game and rules for the season.
January, February, March - Build Season - We prototype, design, and build our robot for the season. We meet 3+ times a week, this is the most important time of our year.
End of February - We compete in one "Week Zero" scrimmage.
March - We compete in 2 Regional competitions. These are 3 day long competitions leading up to a double elimination playoff.
April - If we win a Regional, we compete at the World Championships in Houston, TX.
May - The official Minnesota State Robotics competition. If we do well enough at our Regionals, we compete here.
June, July, August - This time is a little bit of a break. We decide on team leadership for the next year. We also get together to do outreach events in our community and some team bonding but otherwise it's a slow period.
Check out the Calendar page for a more detailed look at meeting times and competitions.
While every team member is expected to contribute wherever they are needed, students inevitably often specialize into certain areas of the team. Some examples of those specializations are below.
Prototype and build mechanisms and the drive train to manipulate game pieces. This involves working with motors, gearboxes, pneumatics, and more.
Computer Aided Design is used to plan out our robot to detailed specifications. These plans are then sent to the Build team to fabricate and assemble.
Assemble, design, and implement the robot's electrical systems. This involves working with motor controllers, roboRIO, cameras, and more.
Robots use autonomous and teleoperated programs during competition. Programming designs and refines these programs for optimal game play.
FIRST is more than just robots. It is also about reaching out in our community, expanding our brand, increasing our fundraising, and teaching younger generations about STEM.
An FRC competition needs a 4 person drive team consisting of a driver, an operator, a drive coach, and a human player (passes game pieces to the robot).
The competitions do not only feature robot matches. Before and during Regionals, our team submits/presents awards to judges and we possibly receive awards.
Location: Blaine High School, Room 128
Team Founded: 2007
Founding Sponsor: Medtronic
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