Ever hear of a GreenHorn invasion?
It’s a group of robotic engineers from NDSU that descend on Becker to build a robot in three days.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) — the high school robotics program that has been teaching students across the globe indispensable personal and professional skills through hands-on learning experiences — kicked off yet another season last Saturday with the annual game reveal video.
The GreenHorns crew from North Dakota State University (which includes seven Becker alumni) convened at Becker High School for the third year in a row to take on the extreme engineering feat of building a robot in three days (Ri3D).
Following the reveal video, GreenHorns members quickly and successfully crafted a robot in 72 hours that is fit to compete in the FIRST Steamworks extravaganza. The timeline of three days is severely restricted in comparison to the normal six-week build season allotted for participating high school teams.
Fueled by Mountain Dew, an alternative rock playlist and a shared passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the 28 college students that make up the GreenHorns worked around the clock to develop a sound game play strategy, prototype various design concepts and then configure a robot based on the results of continuous experimentation.
This year’s robot has earned the name “Blinky” due to its quasi-blinding LEDs and the way it fondly reminds members of the PacMan video game (Blinky is one of the ghosts). Blinky includes a variety of mechanisms, including a climber, shooter, intake system and a game piece manipulator.
None of the feats of Ri3D could have been accomplished without the aid of the many sponsors and steadfast supporters of the GreenHorns, which includes the following: AndyMark, REV Robotics, NDSU, Robot in 3 Days, FRC 4607 CIS, Deanna Swanson, the Wickham family, the Danielson family, and Becker High School.
The GreenHorns would like to especially thank Becker High School for allowing the group to use its facilities and resources throughout the three days.
The GreenHorns’s goals for its continued participation in Ri3D are to motivate and to provide helpful resources to high school robotics teams across the map.
“We want to inspire as many teams as possible to build the best robot they can by providing examples of what to do as well as even what not to do,” said NDSU team member Ryan Swanson, a Becker alum.
“One of our many goals through our participation in Ri3D is to help raise the competitive floor of FRC teams and, in doing so, inspire more students to learn about concepts in STEM and the many careers available in those fields.”
To learn more about the GreenHorns, check out its YouTube channel, “The GreenHorns Robotics” and Bison Robotics’ website at www.ndsubisonrobotics.org.
