The first season for the newly-formed Cannon Falls Robotics team, the “Bomb-Botz”, is turning out to be a successful one. The team is run through the program FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).  During the six-week build period ending in late February, students on the robotics team have been working on creating a robot to endure 2016’s competition task, FIRST Stronghold. Consisting of three sub-teams, the build team, software team, and administrative team, the team has put together a variety of students with different skillsets and interests to help accomplish this task.

Six-weeks is not a long period of time and the deadline to stop building is quickly approaching, so the team is really buckling down. Alex Engebretsen, part of the Bomb-Botz build team, comments, “The robot is a little behind schedule but we are hoping to have it up and fully functional by the end of this next week. I don’t feel like the team is on track at the moment as we only have a few weeks left but I have complete confidence that we will be ready to compete by the end of our time.” When asked the hardest part of building the robot, Engebretson claimed, “The hardest part of building the robot has been trying to accommodate for every design change that we have instituted to overcome all the potential obstacles in the tournament.” The administrative team is also making progress with their developing skills in graphic design and communication. From creating a website to promote the Bomb-Botz, to designing t-shirts and banners and organizing interviews and demos for the team, the admin team is also making great strides towards competition-readiness.

The Northern Lights Regional Competition takes place in Duluth, where the robotics team will travel together for the weekend of March 3rd-5th.