On Sunday, Dec 4, the MechaCoders arrived at Maple Grove High School at 8 AM for robot inspection - passing inspection, they moved to the playing field to test the WiFi connectivity and field environment, and practice grabbing little cones and lifting them onto stakes on the field.

At 9:20, the Students handed their 8-page Engineering Portfolio to the Judges and each student stated their greatest accomplishment this season. The Judges listened, then asked some questions about the robot.

10:30 was the Driver’s Meeting; the Team was reminded of the rules and Gracious Professionalism.

11:00 was the Opening Ceremony, then into each Team’s 6 Qualification Matches - roughly one match every 30 minutes.

Between the matches, the Team returned to the Maintenance area; sometimes a 2-person team of Judges would stop by to ask about 3D printing or Design concepts.

When the Qualifying round ended, the Robot had suffered some small issues and the Student’s match record was 2 wins and 4 losses.

We watched the Championship Matches and sat together as a Team for the Awards Ceremony.  The Announcer described the Design Award, then listed the Finalists, one of which was the MechaCoders!  We sat up a little straighter as the Announcer stated that because of the simplicity, effectiveness, and uniqueness of the design, the Trophy went to the MechaCoders!

The MechaCoders would like to thank our parents and Sponsors (Falk Auto Body and Glass, RWC Tech Solutions, StarTech Computing, Fitschen Tax and Accounting, Red Wing Y, and Red Wing High School) for a great build season!  We have 1 more Competition at Burnsville High School on Jan 14.