Cheering, loud music, packed stands and iPads? The Cedar Falls robotics team dominated this weekend at their regional competition in Duluth, Minn. Technology savvy Cedar Falls students program and drive a robot at the competition to win various points and awards.
Freshman Seth Harwood is new to the team this year. “The game is played on a large field with walls at both ends and one pyramid on each side. At the beginning of the match, points can be scored into goals in the walls at each end there are three types of goals; upper, middle and lower, during a 15 second autonomous period,” Harwood said.
“Frisbees can be thrown or placed in each of the three goals. Then comes the two-minute ‘teleop’ period in which we drive the robots to collect Frisbees and score points. Points can be scored by putting Frisbees in any of the goals, climbing the pyramids and also putting colored Frisbees in the special goals at the top of the pyramids.”
Unlike traditional sports, Harwood explained the allied nature of the game. ”The game is played with one group of three teams, known as an alliance, against another.”
Sophomore Lauren Harter has several important duties on the team. “I enjoy working with safety, outreach and award submissions because I can help not only our team, but also others.”
Harter is excited about the team’s progress. “We partnered with FRC Team 2169 King TeC, the third seeded alliance captain, and FRC Team 3061 Huskie Robotics to become Regional champions of the first ever Northern Lights Regional.”
Not only did they become Regional champions, but the team had other successes at Regionals as well. “We also received the Quality Award Sponsored by Motorola and the be FIRST award sponsored by FRC team 1816 for whomever best exemplifies the core values of FIRST,” Harter said.
Harter looks forward to watching her team succeed in upcoming competitions this season. “We’re headed to the 10,000 Lakes Regional in Minneapolis next where we will be competing for the Chairman’s Award. We will also go to the World Championship event held in St. Louis in April,” Harter said.
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