Faribault Robotics
9-25-19 Recap
We were joined by Faribault Robotics head coach, Jason Engbrecht and two students Hunter and Abby. They were able to give the group an understanding of what the Falcons Robotic team works towards each season. Of course, we had a little information from Brent in that robotics can make an impact for a student. It helps give them leadership skills, improved confidence, and creates community involvement and teamwork skills.
This is the 6th year that the Falcon’s Robotic team has been in part of the Faribault High school. Their season starts in November and they will initially meet 3 times a week. The build for the robot does not however start until January. Before the build starts, they must find out what type of robot is needed for this year’s competitions. Each year there are different specifications that the students build their robot to for competing. Once the build starts the students meet every day of the week to work on the robot. Students are part of every step of building including design, wiring, metal bending, and soldering.
At competitions, students work with other teams to form alliances for each round. In the qualification rounds, it is a random draw and then the farther you go the more you need to form alliances with teams that can create strength within the team. There is a select group of students that are considered the scout team, who watch every match to see what robots and teams would be a good fit.
The Faribault Robotics has been to state twice and was able to go to nationals two years ago. Nationals is a 7-day trip and there were 400 of the best of the best teams involved. On a space a little smaller than a basketball court, the robots performed tasks to certain specifics. There is both a joystick driven segment where the students run the robot and an autonomous segment, where the students program the robot to complete the tasks.
Each year the robot is taking apart at the end of the year so that parts can be reused when possible. Many of the parts are expensive and easily reused. Controllers for example can cost up to $5,000.
The students are one of the most important parts of the team. Hunter is one of the lead designers and uses computer software to help create and design the different parts of the robot. He enjoys that he gets to use technology that can be used in real life and has designs to be an engineer.
Abby is part of the build team. She helps bend it, drill it, and put it all together. She stated that the fairy work is her favorite part of being part of the team. Going in voluntarily after hours to work on the robot with a select group has been a great way to bond and grow with her teammates.
The robotics team has generally been around 25 to 30 students with all sorts of different backgrounds. It is not always the academic students that are part of the team and the Faribault team has a diverse group of kids that are great at working together for the build. Nothing happens without the whole team and they embody why the Falcon Robotics Team is a team and not a club.