Archives 2026

Our pre-season is officially underway. We’re meeting Tuesdays and Saturdays to get new members incorporated into the team and work on various projects. 

We took a trip to the MN State Fair again this year, taking 3rd place in the Mechanical Category. Joining with two other teams, we gave live demos, let younger kids drive the robot, and explained what the FIRST program does. The highlight was getting to walk in the parade with all the teams!

For Homecoming, we brought out a customized rebuild of our 2016 robot for the game. Using the original tank style wheel setup, we added a football launcher. On homecoming day, we double checked our robot – Walter – and tested the shooter inside with soft shots. When it was time, we placed the game ball in the launcher and took the bot down the sidelines. We overshot a tad bit, but having too much power isn’t always the worst problem to have. 

We competed in the MRI in October, which allowed new team members to get a feel for competitions as well as letting everyone on the team try out different roles. (MRI Newsletter)

We are looking forward to participating in the MMR in Prior Lake in November. Check back for updates!

These off season events are great for team chemistry! Working on tasks together before the main season starts lets us get to know each other. We’re looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out!!

This past weekend at Roseville High School our team got to compete in the pre-season competition. As we competed in matches each member on the team, whether new or old, was encouraged to try out every role as part of the drive team, pit crew, even media. 

For our last match we competed with our main drive team currently ranking 16th, wanting to get into the top 10. We showcased our robot’s shuttling, assisting, and scoring capabilities while trying to get any ranking points. Losing the match and not gaining any ranking points we dropped rankings. Ranking 21st, we waited for the teams to select their alliances and were unfortunately not picked. We stayed and watched finals, cheered them on and enjoyed the game.

Overall we felt accomplished that new members had a good time and we overall ranked 21st with 2 wins and 5 losses. We got to show off our robot and our team’s capabilities, build skills in adapting and accepting unfamiliar positions. Our upperclassmen got to teach underclassmen skills they have built throughout robotics.

At the 2026 Iowa Regional, we delivered a strong overall performance, finishing the event as Regional Finalists and earning second place after a competitive finals series.

We started the event by working through inspection, weigh-in, and detailed system checks to make sure our robot was ready for the field. Once we cleared those milestones, we moved into practice matches, where we won two out of three and gained valuable feedback on robot performance and match strategy.

Qualification matches began on the second day, where we competed against a wide range of teams and alliances. Throughout these matches, we focused on consistent execution, communication, and refining our strategy. One of our biggest strengths during this stage was the reliability of our robot—it performed consistently and remained fully operational across our matches. We also continued improving how we coordinated with alliance partners and adapted to different match situations.

On the final day of qualifications, we carried those improvements forward and continued to build on what we had learned earlier in the event. At the conclusion of qualification rounds, we were selected by the #1 ranked alliance to compete in the elimination bracket. This selection reflected the impact of our robot’s performance and the way we contributed on the field throughout the event.

In the playoffs, we elevated our performance and worked effectively with our alliance to advance through each round. Match after match, we executed under pressure and continued to refine our approach. This effort carried us all the way to the finals, where both alliances demonstrated a high level of play. After splitting the first two matches, the event came down to a final tiebreaker. We narrowly missed the win in that match, finishing second overall and earning the title of Regional Finalists.

This result represents the full season of work we put in—from initial design and prototyping to fabrication, programming, testing, and competition. The Iowa Regional was a strong culmination of that effort and a reflection of the growth we achieved as a team.

The Duluth regional competition: Northern Lights, was Fridley Tiger Robotics first in-season FRC competition this year.
We arrived in Duluth and set up our pit on March 4th. Our first practice match the next day went as expected for a first practice match, with our alliance scoring 68 to 158. But our next practice match a problem arose and “Rolly Poly” was unable to receive signals from our driver team. This problem remained well into the qualification matches the next day. But our team worked hard and persisted against the disappointment we all felt, and finally the issue was resolved. This hiccup had put our team far behind others in the competition, and unfortunately we were unable to catch up and ranked last. But we remain hopeful, and intend to do much better in our next competition, the Iowa Regional!

For the case report we had put together on the issue, you can find it here: https://team2227.com/files/NL2026-CAN-Dropout-Case-Report.pdf