Previous Robots

2023 - flymer

Flymer was designed for 2023’s Charged Up! Season. It is composed of a mecanum drive and a modified climber- in-a-box, converted into an arm mechanism. The arm has a pneumatically powered claw, which can exert 60 PSI of force on game modules. The arm is supported on a lead screw, which allows it to move up and down with quick acceleration. Flymer features not only a mecanum drivetrain, but also four pneumatic-actuated piston brakes. Together, the mecanum drivetrain and brakes provide Flymer with good maneuverability and the ability to strafe, while also allowing the robot to remain uninhibited by the lack of friction. Flymer competed in the Great Northern Regional where we received the Team Spirit Award, as well as the 10,000 Lakes Regional. In the 2023 fall off-season Minnesota Robotics Invitational competition, Flymer soared to a first-place finish!

2022 - CONCUSSION

    Concussion was built during the 2022 season, Rapid React. Our design features a tank drive chassis with a windmill-like climber that rotated to traverse the monkey bar-like field endgame element. This design also featured an intake that would pick up two pieces of cargo at a time and deposit them in the lower level. The name concussion surfaced from people hitting their heads on the climbing mechanism. We later required hard hats to protect members from possible head injuries. Concussion competed at the 10,000 Lakes Regional where we received the Quality Award.

2020/2021 - Honeycomb

Honeycomb features a 4 CIM tank drive on the long Andymark chassis. It uses a mecanum intake to put power cells into a pneumatically actuated conveyor belt system that feeds into a powerful dual wheel shooting mechanism. It competed in the 2020 Great Northern regional and the 2021 At-Home Challenge.

2019 - Asimov

    Asimov features a 4-CIM mecanum drive train, a ramp mechanism for scoring cargo into the low goal, an "arm" for passing cargo to other robots, and a piston-actuated hatch panel mechanism. Asimov competed at the 2019 Iowa Regional and 10,000 Lakes Regional robotics competitions. At the Iowa Regional, the team won the Judges' Award, and moved on to playoffs at the 10,000 Lakes Regional, reaching semi-finals with our alliance-mates 2987 and 7028.

​2018 - Vertigo

    Vertigo features a 4-CIM drop-center "tank" drive train, a motorized intake for picking up Power Cubes, and a CIM powered elevator. Built for the 2018 Power Up competition, Vertigo is able to pick up power cubes and place them on the switch as well as into the vault. In its early stages, it had several successful climbs. Vertigo competed at the Duluth and Medtronic (formerly 10k Lakes) regional competitions, and made it to semi-finals at the Medtronic regional.

2017 - Fracture

  Fracture features a 4-CIM mecanum drive train, a CIM-powered drum for climbing, and an actuated gear intake. In the 2017 SteamWorks competition, Fracture was able to consistently collect an impressive number of gears and place them on a gear slot. Fracture could also climb a "rope" for extra points during the end of a match.

2016 - Whiplash

  Whiplash features a 4-CIM drop-center drive, a CIM-powered two-drum winch linear elevator, and a scissor lift climber. Built for the 2016 StrongHold competition, Whiplash is able to go over seven out of a total of nine defenses, can shoot boulders into the low goal, and can scale within the last twenty seconds of the match. We competed at the 10,000 Lakes competition and were picked by the captains of the fourth-seed alliance and got a Wild Card for Champs. We were quarter-finalists at champs.

2015 - Zenith and Zipline

  Zenith features a 4 CIM drop-center drive, a CIM-powered two drum winch linear elevator, and 22-inch extendable arms. Zipline features a CIM-powered drum tied to two anchors. Built for Recycle Rush, Zenith is able make a maximum stack of six totes that it receives from the feeder station while Zipline pulls in the recycling containers and holds them up in the air for Zenith to place stacks under.  The MinuteBots competed with these two robots at the 10,000 Lakes Regional but unfortunately Zipline was disqualified.  Zenith was able to carry the weight of the team but unfortunately had communication issues which were solved after the damage had been done to the MinuteBots score placing them 32nd out of 63 teams. Luckily they were selected by an alliance for the playoff rounds and made it into the finals rounds earning a spot at Championships in April.

2014 - Onyx

  Onyx boasts a 4 CIM motor drive train with a 6 wheel tank drive. Built for the Aerial Assist challenge, in which two alliances of three robots both try to receive the most points by passing and scoring 2 foot diameter exercise balls. Onyx features 12 square feet of catching area and two roller intakes, one on each side of the robot. This allowed the MinuteBots to easily complement any alliance, in addition to quickly gaining assist points. Onyx and the 2014 MinuteBots placed 4th out of 63 teams at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition, 76th out of 100 teams in the Galileo Division of the FIRST World Championships, and 5th out of 30 teams at the MSHSL State Tournament.

2013 - NN

  NN was the first robot built by the MinuteBots. It was designed for the 2013 FRC challenge, Ultimate Ascent, in which alliance members try to shoot Frisbees into goals, and climb a pyramid with rungs. NN was designed specifically for climbing this pyramid. It features long arms that extend to grab onto rungs, and shorter arms that hold the rungs and stabilize the robot. When NN and the MinuteBots competed in the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition, the team ranked 38th out of 63, and were the second highest ranked rookie team at the event.