Oftentimes when people think of robots, they envision various versions of the same basic prototype: a humanoid robot climbing stairs, delivering food, and taking our jobs. What people don’t see, however, is the depth of the uses robots are capable of being geared towards. For the Cannon Falls High School Robotics team, the Bomb-Botz, robots are not so much designed to execute mundane tasks as they are to face off in battle.

Every year, the Bomb-Botz partake in FIRST Robotics Competition, a series of competitions hosted by the FIRST organization in hopes of giving students the opportunity to show off their robots and compete for a first-place prize. The competition season begins in January, when FIRST releases a “game” for the year. This game dictates how teams design their robots and with what goals in mind. For this year’s design, teams were required to construct a robot capable of hanging off of monkey bars and shooting balls into a basketball hoop.

After a designated build season, in which teams build and program robots to the best of their abilities, the competition season begins. At each competition, a random selection determines a team of three robots, each from a different school, who form an alliance. These three robots face off against an opposing alliance of robots in a tense battle of monkey bars and basketball hoops, each team hoping to score enough points to defeat their competitors.

Unfortunately last year’s competitions were canceled due to COVID-19, but this year the CFHS team will once again be able to compete as usual. Leaving Wednesday, the team headed up to Duluth for a three-day competition, their first in two years. Thursday, the first day of robotic festivities, includes a series of practice rounds as teams get a feel for competing on a field with other robots and make last-minute changes to their entries. On the second day, teams launch into qualifying rounds, which last from Friday into Saturday, the third and final day in which semifinals and finals are played out to determine a winner.

Sara Auger, the CFHS team’s design captain, has had a front-row seat in the preparation that goes into designing a robot. From 3D designing and automated CAD to community outreach and fundraising, there are many factors to consider when crafting a functioning robot. However, the CFHS team has taken it in stride. Reflecting on her favorite part of the experience, Auger claims that it is “Probably just how fun the practices are. It never really feels like competition, it sort of just feels like a fun group of people who are kinda building a robot and kinda playing dodgeball half the time.”

Despite the laid-back attitude of their practices, the Bomb Botz hope to excel in the Duluth competition. Due to a limited amount of meets, it will be just one of their two for the year.

Livestreams of the Bomb Botz battles can be found at these links: https://www.twitch.tv/firstinspires

Score updates can be found here: https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2022mndu