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With 21 team members, the Chisago Lakes-North Branch First Robotics Team 3038 arrived at Williams Arena early on March 31 to prepare for the 10,000 Lakes Regional Championship. The day began unpacking the robot and getting it ready for inspection. While that was going on, other team members were visiting the other 63 teams in the competition passing out pencils, buttons, and business cards to market Robot 3038. Once the robot passed inspection, the team participated in some practice rounds to get ready for the first day of competition.

The 10,000 Lakes Regional Robotic Competition Opening Ceremonies were Friday April 1. Robot 3038 competed in seven seeding rounds on Saturday two rounds on Friday morning. Finishing with only two alliance wins, Team 3038 did not get selected for finals.

Many team members were able to help one of the rookie teams from another school get their robot ready for the competition. This was especially gratifying since this robot made it into the finals.

Over the course of the weekend, the Chisago - North Branch Robot 3038 faced with many mechanical and programming challenges. "The game was very difficult and there were some very sophisticated robots. We are very proud of our team for their perseverance throughout the competition and for their ability to problem solve and correct malfunctions to keep the robot in the competition," commented Team Leader Becky Leuer.

Team member Liz Ries said, "We learned quite a few things for next year." Marjorie Otto summed up the weekend nicely when she stated, "It was rough, especially after the amazing experience we had last year going to the Championships. We still had a blast, because it's not winning that makes it fun, it's the atmosphere. There are amazing people there that want you to have fun and everyone is really nice. We learned a lot of things and have ideas for next year. We tried our best and that's what counts."

FIRST Team 3038 would like to thank main sponsor St. Jude Medical Foundation (SJM). The team had the opportunity to visit with representatives of SJM, explain the workings of the robot and describe the challenges presented by the game "LogoMotion" used in the competition.

Six seniors will be graduating from the team: Tomy Cummings (NB), Evan Freeman (CL), Kyle Hultqust (CL), Andrew Lebens (NB), Elizabeth Reis (NB), and Sam Todd (CL). Team Leader and North Branch Industrial Technology teacher Scott Frischmon commented "These seniors got this program up and running and were an integral part of the success we have had with our robotics program. The skills they learned by participating in this program will serve them well as they continue their education and enter the work force."

Anyone interested in joining the Robotics team next year should contact Becky Leuer at bleuer@northbranch. k12.mn.us or Scott Frischmon at [email protected].

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