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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

The East Metro Collaborative Competition (EMCC) is a FIRST Robotics “off-season” robotics event hosted by four FRC teams from high schools in Woodbury and Cottage Grove, and held at Park High School in Cottage Grove, MN.

We got to the EMCC a little late and set up the pit before heading to the field for the drive team meeting where we were told how to sign up for games. Just like the MRI our normal team went up for the first match as a warm up and after that we rotated so everyone could try every role at least once and get the hang of it as we head into the next season. They even had a human match and a mentor match both of which we participated in.

The Minnesota Robotics Invitational (MRI) is an off-season FIRST Robotics Competition event, hosted in Roseville, MN. It features a real FIRST field, real FIRST electronics and a trained FTA to run the competition.

The mission of MRI is to host an enjoyable, high quality, and well-organized FIRST Robotics Competition event, bringing together teams from across the Minnesota FIRST community.

At 7:00 we started loading our robot inside and setting up our pit. We had a driver’s meeting so everyone knew what changes were added to this off season competition. Since this competition was more experimental than competitive, everyone that attended was given a chance to try out every role in the practice matches.

Our original competition driver’s team started us out in our first match. For the rest of the matches we started rotating drive team roles.

When the matches ended we participated in alliance selection. We didn’t get selected for alliance, but we had fun giving everyone a chance to try out every single role in the drive team. 

Come join us on Thursday, November 13th from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the cafeteria for a hands-on STEM experience! Cummins engineers will be working alongside students to build working LEGO models of two-cylinder engines—designed to simulate real mechanical motion. This is a fun and interactive way to explore engineering concepts, ask questions about STEM careers, and connect with professionals who are passionate about innovation and technology. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to build, learn, and get inspired!

This year, our FIRST Robotics team had the amazing opportunity to represent STEM and robotics at the MN State Fair and what an experience it was!

We joined with two other teams to showcase our competition robots, and the highlight of the day was watching kids light up as they took the controls themselves. With team members guiding them, kids of all ages got the chance to drive the robot, ask questions, and learn more about how it was built. It wasn’t just a demo, it was hands-on, interactive, and all about sparking curiosity.

Beyond the demos, we also rolled into the spotlight, literally, as part of the MN State Fair parade! Our robot made its way through the crowds, waving (in its own robotic way) to thousands of fairgoers. It was a fun and memorable way to show off what students can accomplish with teamwork, creativity, and engineering.

Another highlight of the event was our custom-designed poster, which shared our team’s goals, values, and impact in the community. We put a lot of thought into telling our story about how we build more than just robots. We’re building leadership, collaboration, and outreach. We were proud (and a little stunned!) to learn that our poster won second place overall. It was a great reminder that our work off the field matters just as much as what we build for competition.

Events like this are a reminder of why we do what we do: not just to compete, but to inspire. Whether it’s through building, teaching, or sharing our passion, we’re proud to be part of the FIRST community and excited to keep reaching more young minds.

At the 10,000 Lakes Regional in St Paul, MN we ranked 17 out of 51, had a record of 6-3-0, and earned 15 qualification points and 5 award points. 

Day 1:

Pit set-up first thing in the morning led by Eli. After setting up, our scouters, Sal and Peyton, split up and started talking to other teams. Meanwhile, our drive team (Remi, Skyler, and Logan) were discussing how to strategize with other teams and getting ready for practice matches. We had 4 practice matches, winning the first two and losing the second two. Victoria and ThuyVi were our coaches and media personnel, switching positions each match throughout the competition. 

Day 2:

On our second day of the competition we played 7 qualification matches, finishing with a record of 4-3-0 on the day. Judges walked through during the day and talked with every team. Because of this it was important to always have at least one person in the pit, typically Ada. We explained what our robot could do, how and what we did while brainstorming our robot, talked about our sponsors and outreach, and answered any questions the judges had. For each match we always made sure to strategize with the other drive teams on our alliance to ensure we had a solid plan. 

During one of our matches we got stuck on an algae, which resulted in a loss. We were able to overcome this issue and avoid it the rest of the competition. Though we avoided seriously damaging our robot, we did have to rebuild and strengthen brackets for the intake due to repeated collisions with other robots and the coral station. 

Day 3:

On the last day of competition, we had 2 qualification matches in the morning. They were both wins, bringing our ranking up, and finishing at 17th. We were not chosen to be in an alliance for the finals, but, based on our ranking we were asked to be a backup team. While we were not needed, we watched the matches and were ready to go at a moment’s notice. Awards were announced throughout finals between matches We were awarded the Creativity Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation! It was very exciting. 

Now that the FIRST Dive Reefscape season is done, we are planning what to do next. Here are some things we have going on:

• Sponsor Appreciation Night on Tuesday, May 13, 2025
  • Watch for invitations in the mail and/or your email
• Team Banquet
• 49er’s Day Parade on Thursday, June 12, 2025
• Summer meeting schedule
  • Arduino practice
  • Organizing equipment and ordering new
• MN State Fair – date TBD

Thank you to all of our sponsors who helped us out throughout the season!

Gene Haas Foundation grant winners!