Great Time At
Great Northern

   

     On Wednesday March 8th 2023 our team embarked on our Journey to our Regional Competition at Grand Forks, North Dakota in a flurry of packing and last minute work on our robot.  Once every thing was done and loaded into the trailer we left Kelliher Public School at  3:40 and headed west by way of Highway 2.  After over two hours of Clear winter driving we arrived at our destination THE ALERUS CENTER!!  After Unloading our robot, tool boxes and our pit we entered into the EMENCE open space of the main arena and found our 10' x 10' pit location.  At that time we set up our new canopy covered pit and lights and got our tool boxes in place ready for the practice matches that were to come the next morning.  We left Alerus Center for a superb supper at Pizza Ranch before going to our hotel, The Hampton Inn and Suites for a nights sleep and a wholesome morning breakfast.  
     Thursday Came and after breakfast we headed to the Alerus Center for the opening of the pits.  We made it to the pits and did some finishing touches to it and to our robot and got ready for a day of practice matches.  During our Week Zero Event back in February in Bemidji, Minnesota, we  made a landmark decision in our team's history.  We decided to switch our coding language form LabView code to JAVA code, since only a had full of teams were still using LabView code for communicating with their robot.  This and a redesigned pneumatic powered grabber boom were the two substantial parts of our robot that we worked on in preparation for our practice matches. Our First Practice Match was with 4536 The MinuteBots and 7858 The Warriors and it went well. we worked on our ability deliver cones to the nodes of our alliance's grid, which we improved throughout the day.  Between practice matches, being inspected, scouting interviews, and working on the Robot and its code our team and coaches were kept busy.  Also, Along with the practice matches we were able to improve our robot by testing it on the practice field and the play ground to better our ability to deliver cones to the nodes.

 By the end of the day our robot was able to collect cones from the players station and deliver them, we were Also able to climb and  help level our alliances switch.  We packed up for the day around 6pm and headed to Sonic for supper. which was fallowed by some of us taking in the hotel's swimming area while others rested up for the day to come.

     Friday Came early and started with a quick breakfast and then leaving for the pits and the event's opening ceremony.  We Arrived at the Alerus Center In time to get through a bag check then set up for the day and catch the opening ceremony that was the official start of the event.  The ceremony started with the entrance of Yoji Shimizu aboard the FIRST Train that was made up of the Railcar Competition entries.  After Dismounting the train Yoji gave a short speech and welcome to the event. He then introduced a representative from UND Fallowed by two senators an their representatives.  The ceremony ended with the presentation of the colors by the local VFW Color Guard and the national Anthem. After that we headed back to the prepare for our first match, match 5 for the day.  We were in a alliance  with teams 8887 the West Central Nights and 877 Pi Rho'botics @ North star for this match.  During the 2 minute 15 second of the match our team was able to collect a cone form the human players station, deliver it to our grid with perfect precision. Then with less than 14 seconds we were able to  climb onto the switch ending our first qualifying match.  Proceeding this match we had 6 more matches, In between each was a lot of fun and activity.  During that time was Team judging, alliance and scouting interviews, autonomous code writing an testing, working on the robot, and taking in the sponsors booths as we had the time.  By our last match of the day, match 59 we were able to deliver a cone in autonomous pick up and deliver cones to our alliance grid and then in the end game we were able to level our alliance's switch before time ran out.  The day end with closing words and thanks from Yoji and a paraded of coaches and mentors in order of the years they have been involved in FIRST.  After that we left the event, the team had Supper at Chick-Fil-A and an evening of Lazier Tag and Trampolines at Northern Air Action Park.

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     Saturday Came early and with it the last day of the event.  We entered through the bag check and went to our pit to set up for the day. We then went to the practice field to try out some new autonomous code before taking in the opening ceremony, Which included a choir of team members singing the National Anthem with the flags presented by the VFW Color Guard. Our day consisted of three matches, these were the last three matches that would be played by two of our team members (our main drivers) who were graduating. Five teams had left the event early due to a winter weather storm that was coming in to Grand Forks. This gave us time to train in a new driver on the practice field and during match 73 before our last match, Match 87.  Shortly after our last match was final alliance selections and the playoff matches.  We stayed through the matches and saw the no. 7 alliance (Teams 5172, 2883, 6146)  beat the no. 1 alliance (Teams 6045, 4607, 4226) and win The Great Northern Regional event.  Yoji Shimizu Congratulated the wining alliance and all the participating teams at the Great Northern Regional.  This  was a part of his closing comments and with it the end of the event.  As we made our way to our transportation some of the team left with their family to try and get ahead of the approaching storm, while others stayed another night in town with the team. Those that stayed with the team were able to have dinner at Sakura Japanese Steakhouse.  A Japanese themed establishment with low amber lighting, several gurgling water features, Japanese art and statuary, stone and deep grained wood accents, live bamboo and other features that evoked a far east feeling motif.  The interior was only one part of a larger experience, That included a meal prepared by a Talented, FAST handed Hibachi Chef. That kept us in aw at his reflexes, his skill with the knife and other utensils, his excellent showmanship, and the energy he brought to our table.  After we had finished our superb meal and experience we toped the evening off with the movie 65 at the AMC Theater. A suspenseful SI-FI movie about space travel and earth 65 million years ago. The movie kept us alert and on the edge of our seats the whole time.  The movie ended little after 10pm and we headed back to the hotel for a needed nights sleep.

     Sunday came early and quick we packed, grabbed breakfast and loaded back up into the suburbans all before 10AM. We turned east and headed back towards home on a crisp clear day. After two pit stops and several hours of driving we arrived back at the school. Once we got to school we unloaded the trailer and brought everything back into the robotics room, bringing to an end our 2023 Great Northern Regional Experiences. 

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  Be sure to check out the new pages about our trips to state and Worlds, located under the tab "Bog Bots Report".

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  THANK YOU to OUR SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS, VOULNTEERS, DONERS and to our COMMUNITIES.  Without your support this experience, if not this entire season, would not be possible.  We deeply appreciate your support.